The Ex Factor
by Beccabo
Summary: Steve McGarrett never believed his past would come back to haunt him.  But it has, in the form of his ex-wife. . .a Chicago police detective who is running an investigation in Hawaii that overlaps with the 5-0 team.  Let the fireworks begin!
1. Undercover

_**Hello Hawaii 5-0 fans! I had this idea running around in my head for some of the other shows I write fics for, but I kept coming back to Hawaii 5-0 because I think it fits the best. So, I must admit that I am not an expert on Hawaii and will probably make some errors with the culture. But if you can look past that, I hope you enjoy this fic...**_

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><p>Chapter One - Undercover<p>

Just inside the entrance to the club, Detective Danny Williams scanned the room as he searched for a familiar face. The establishment was certainly not lacking in what some would call "entertainment": a dozen or so female strippers danced seductively around poles to the beat of heavy rap music as strobe lights flashed overhead, alternately providing the room with light before plunging it into darkness and then brightening it again. Just as the detective thought he was about to have a seizure from the on-again, off-again illuminations, he found what he was looking for.

Recognizing his mark as he stood with thugs on either side of an occupied semi-circular booth in the back right-hand corner of the strip club, Danny strode casually toward him.

"Good evening," Danny said as he reached them.

The Polynesian-skinned, bleached blond, designer-suited Hawaiian nodded back in reply, barely acknowledging the other man's approach.

"I've been told that you and I have a mutual friend," Danny finally said quietly, smirking lightly at the nonchalant attitude. "And might be able to help each other out."

"Who?"

"TJ Carlton."

Without skipping a beat, Kai Akino, newly minted head of the Wilson Crips gang, slid over to his right wordlessly, making room for Danny to slip into the middle of the booth. The two beefy bodyguards eyed the newcomer suspiciously and Danny flashed them his patented smirk but wasted no time in getting straight to the point.

"It was promised at my last meeting with Carlton that the sample I am looking to purchase from you would be delivered last week." Leaning back and draping a relaxed arm over the back of the booth, Danny added calmly, "I never received it. Why?"

Having begun to sweat slightly, Akino tugged at the collar of his silk shirt while fiddling with his napkin nervously, almost hysterically, as he attempted to change the subject.

"How about a drink? Or a girl?" The young man asked, snapping his fingers brusquely. "Diamond!" Then, to Danny, "She's my personal favorite – new haole girl, but best in the house. She's got the reddest hair any of us natives have ever seen. And when she moves, boy…"

He let out a long, low whistle as there was suddenly a flash of long shapely legs and a stunning redhead flipped acrobatically up onto the table's surface - causing the napkin dispenser and salt-and-pepper shakers to clink loudly - landing on her toes so that her heels wouldn't break off. Giggling perkily, she jumped backwards, off the table, to land on the floor on the balls of her feet and rested her heels on the ground. At five-foot-five, she was deemed "short" by average standards, but with piercing green eyes and long red hair, she was certainly a beauty. Her skimpy outfit showed off her petite frame and peaches 'n cream skin - and a lot of skin at that. Each of the girls, many of who doubled as waitresses and barmaids, were required to dress up in their own unique costume - an angel perhaps, or maybe even a she-devil - that generally tended to reflect each damsel's unparalleled personality. This was especially true for Diamond: her slim bikini (if one could even call it that) was silver and white and patterned over with glistening diamond patches. She also wore diamond studded sandals with six-inch stiletto heels…to make up for her aforementioned slight stature.

"Gentlemen, meet my newest jewel," Akino said almost proudly as he smiled up at her while she proudly performed a slight pirouette-like twirl on her toes and her face contorted into a grin so wide it was almost psychotic. Danny could tell that this woman loved showing off her curvaceous, sleek and youthful body, adoring the endless attention she lovingly received from the men who came here to seek pleasure.

"Three glasses of our finest Bordeaux, please." Akino winked at her.

"Comin' right up!" Diamond said before she flipped away.

"Well, she was certainly. . .energetic," Danny said finally, enjoying the view from behind as she left the table. He then seemed to recover himself as he asked, "Where are my shipments?"

"Butch was supposed to tell you to come back for 'em next week."

Danny knew that "Butch" was the guy that he and his partner, Commander Steve McGarrett, had found neatly murdered the night before, but he simply said, "The door man has been. . .disposed of ."

"Oh," Akino said this in an offhand sort of way, as if the man's death didn't bother him in the slightest. "Well, in that case, just come back here next week and they'll be ready for you, like I said."

Danny sighed impatiently, the blinding force of his icy blue gaze boring into the pretentious Hawaiian. "I am more than. . .aware that you do not necessarily find my presence here to be intimidating, Mr. Akino -"

"Took you long enough to figure that out," Kai interrupted rudely. "Huh, I guess you're not as smart as you look, pretty boy."

Before Danny could respond, Diamond sailed over with their drinks.

"Anything else I can getcha?" she asked, cocking her hips to the side sensually, her eyes never leaving Danny.

"That will be all, Diamond, thank you," her boss said gratefully, and expected his favorite girl to sweep away again gracefully.

"Actually," the redhead said with a smile, "it won't be."

In a single, fluid motion, the stripper whipped a gun smoothly from behind her…where she might have been hiding it in her skimpy outfit was a puzzle to Danny…and aimed it almost gracefully into the chest of Kai Akino. Before anyone else could move, a group of men who had previously been sitting at the bar were suddenly swarming the table as calls of "Chicago PD….put your weapons down and your hands up." filled the room.

Danny reacted quickly to this sudden turn of events, but not as quickly as "Diamond." Before he could head for the door in the chaos, the petite redhead had him up out of his seat, his arms wrestled behind his back, and was slapping the handcuffs around his wrists.

"Wait," Danny cried as she began maneuvering him out of the strip club, her stiletto heels clicking on the tile floor, "this isn't what it looks like. I'm…"

"Doing business with a cop killer," the dancer hissed fiercely into his ear, shoving him through the nearest exit. "You should be more careful about the kind of guy you're buying your drugs from. Now shut up."

"Chin!" Danny called, seeing his undercover partner being manhandled by another cop outside the club. "Tell them this is a mistake! Tell them…"

"I told you to shut up!" the sexy woman demanded, her green eyes flashing as she shoved him up against the car.

"Where's Steve?" Danny asked Chin, who simply shrugged in response and tried to motion for Danny to be quiet. As he realized that Chin was simply content to be taken down to the police station and straighten things out there, the New Jersey detective decided that he was not going to go that quietly and shouted, "Listen, you got this all wrong! I work for the governor."

"Who the hell is this guy?" another cop on the scene inquired over the sounds of Danny's protests.

"Some drug buyer…"

"I am not!" Danny protested, looking over at Chin, "We're not! Call the governor…"

"Yeah, I'll do that." The redhead shot back, beginning to pat Danny down for weapons, "Just as soon as I get off the phone with my boss…the Queen."

"I know this looks bad," Danny conceded as the beautiful police officer kneeled down to continue the pat down, "But we work for Hawaii 5-0. We report to the governor of Hawaii. We were on an undercover assignment having to do with the drugs that the Wilson Crips gang is moving…Hey! Watch the hands!"

Finished with the pat down, the female cop stood up and gave both Danny and Chin the once over before she commanded, "Get in the car. We're taking you down to HPD headquarters and we can sort it out there."


	2. Familiar Faces

**Chapter Two – Familiar Faces**

"_Well-behaved women seldom make history."_ - Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

_Honolulu Police Station, an hour later…_

"I told you that I worked for the governor."

Chicago Police Detective Harper James was leaning against one of the desks in the Honolulu Police Department's bullpen and watching closely as her boss and the Captain of the HPD spoke animatedly over the speaker phone with Hawaii's Governor Jameson. She was still wearing her stripper's outfit, but one of her guys from Chicago PD had at least graciously offered her his jacket to wear over the skimpy costume. Swinging her eyes back in Danny's direction, she quipped, "And I told you that I am impressed. Twice now, I believe."

"But you did not apologize for not believing me." Danny pointed out, relaxing in a nearby chair and propping his feet up on a detective's desk.

"No, I did not."

The look on her face told Danny that an apology would not be forthcoming anytime soon, so he muttered, "I can't believe you frisked me."

Obviously irritated by her lack of control over the situation, Detective James shot back, "And I can't believe you haven't stopped talking yet. You have talked non-stop since I slapped the cuffs on you. Do you ever shut up?"

"No."

Harper gave him a strange look and then turned to her partner from the undercover operation at Club Halo as she asked, "Can you see if you can get me a change of clothes from somewhere? I left my bag in the van."

"Yeah sure," Detective Ed DeLuca of the Chicago PD agreed, hauling himself out of the chair he was sitting in, "we got nothing better to do right now anyway."

The team from Chicago was getting antsy as they waited around for all of the bureaucratic red tape to be straightened out by their bosses. And Harper James was not a patient woman.

"This is ridiculous," she fumed, beginning to pace around the bullpen. "We've got a cop killer sitting in a room down the hall and none of us can touch him." Looking back at Danny, she asked pointedly, "And where the hell is your boss? Why wasn't he with you?"

"He and our other partner were at a secondary location doing their own undercover work," Detective Chin Ho Kelly informed her patiently, seeming to appear out of nowhere. "The Wilson Crips gang is one of the largest on the island and we were trying to cover all of our bases." When he realized that the redheaded detective didn't really seem all that interested in his explanation, Chin simply smirked and stated, "He'll be here momentarily."

"Great," Harper mocked, glancing back at where the big wigs were arguing in the Captain's office.

Exchanging a knowing look with Chin, Danny changed the subject by asking, "So, Chicago PD, huh? I'm from New Jersey, so I know all about the northern winters. And let me tell ya that it is much better to be here in February than back there."

"We're not on vacation," she pointed out. "We're here to take that scum bag back to Chicago, book him, and let him face a jury of his very outraged peers."

"Of course you are," Danny agreed, "but you gotta admit that you wouldn't be able to pull off that outfit back in Chi-town without freezing off some very important parts of-. . ."

Danny stopped talking when Harper icily flashed her green eyes at him and he held up his hands in surrender. Not to be deterred, he asked, "How long have you been undercover at Club Halo?"

"Two weeks."

"You got Kai Akino to trust you that quickly?" Chin asked in surprise.

"Well, they didn't have a real selective hiring process," Detective James informed them, "basically I had to show him my boobs and we were good to go."

"Sounds like some dates I used to have back in Jersey." Danny quipped and smirked. And for one split second, the tough-as-nails lady detective broke free from her professional façade and spit out a laugh as she shook her head at him. Encouraged by this new response, he asked, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Can I stop you?"

Leaning forward and pouring on the charm, Danny flirted, "Where did you hide the gun?"

Harper scoffed at him and rolled her eyes as her partner returned to her side. . .sans a change of clothes for her. . .and said, "The consensus around here is that they don't keep any women's clothes hanging around. They offered up a prison jumpsuit, but I honestly don't think those guys are too eager to see you cover up."

She looked over at a nearby desk where detectives from the Honolulu Police Department were making no effort to conceal their enjoyment at having a scantily clad member of the Chicago PD in their midst. Sighing dramatically, Harper asked, "Remind me again about the upside of working with guys?"

"You're not seriously going to interview the suspect dressed like that, are you?" Danny asked, giving her another once over.

"If I have to," she told him and then muttered, "If I ever get into the interview room." Shaking her head, the three men could see the anger rising up within her as she gestured toward their respective bosses and hissed, "Kai Akino killed a cop! A decorated member of the Chicago Police Force." Turning to Danny and Chin, she added, "I can't believe your governor is forcing us to have a pissing contest over a cop killer!" Heading toward a nearby hallway, she muttered angrily to herself, "And I can't believe I am still wearing this ridiculous outfit!"

"Where are you going?" Ed called after her.

"To find my clothes!" she told him haughtily as she stormed her way down a random hallway in the precinct.

"Fiery temper on that one," Danny commented with a goofy grin, "I've heard that about redheads…"

"Hey, show some respect." Detective DeLuca snapped at Danny, surprising him. "The cop that got killed? He was her partner...Detective Samuel Norval."

"Oh." Danny said quietly, the grin fading from his face. "I'm sorry."

"We almost had Akino back in Chicago, man," DeLuca continued, looking back at the hallway his partner had just disappeared down, "but he ran. Six months we spent looking for him. Some of the higher ups wanted to give up, but there was no way Harper was going to rest until Sammy's killer was behind bars. In Chicago. And she can be pretty persuasive when she wants to be."

"I believe it," Danny agreed and then asked, "But isn't it a conflict of interest for her to be investigating her partner's murder? I mean, how'd she get on this job?"

"She's got some connections." Ed smirked, as if Danny had just stumbled upon an inside joke.

Taking the bait, Chin asked, "What kind of connections?"

"Ever heard of Mickey James?"

"Police Superintendent Mickey James?" Danny asked in surprise and then added sarcastically, "Yeah, I've heard of Chicago's top cop. Who hasn't?"

"She calls him daddy."

"Damn." Chin and Danny both said at the same time.

But before they could say anything else on the subject, the door to the stairwell slammed open and Commander Steve McGarrett hurried into the bullpen followed closely by Officer Kono Kalakaua.

"What's going on?" Steve demanded, coming up to the trio of police officers, "Where's Akino?"

"He's in custody," Chin informed them quickly, "Kai Akino is not the problem."

"So what is the problem?" The Commander asked, looking around in confusion.

"I am the problem," came a female voice from behind them.

All five police officers turned around to see Detective Harper James walk back into the bullpen, still wearing her ridiculous outfit. But at that moment the rest of the world could have faded away because those emerald green eyes of hers were fastened solely on Commander Steve McGarrett.

And his eyes were locked with hers, a stunned look frozen on his handsome face.

Moving further into the bullpen, Harper kept her eyes locked on Steve's as she commented, "But then again, I've always been the problem. Haven't I, Steven?"

"Steven?" Danny mimicked, looking from Steve to Harper and then back to Steve as he asked, "You know her?"

"Know her?" Steve repeated, suddenly recovering his powers of speech, "I used to be married to her."


	3. Welcome To Hawaii

_**Thank you so much for all the reviews! You guys are great and I really appreciate the time you took to read and review these first two chapters. Thanks especially to amblue for following me to this fic…you are definitely a loyal reader! That means a lot to me!**_

_**I really like creating new characters to interact with ones we already love, so I hope you guys are going to enjoy getting to know Harper!**_

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><p><strong>Chapter Three – Welcome to Hawaii<strong>

"_A wife lasts only for the length of the marriage, but an ex-wife is there for the rest of your life."_ ~ Jim Samuels

"I found my bag."

Harper, her eyes still fixed on Steve, walked forward to join the small band of cops gathered at the bullpen desk and she was indeed carrying a leather messenger bag over her left shoulder. Finally tearing her eyes away from her ex, she looked at her current partner and stated nervously, "One of the cops from the stakeout found it and dropped it off outside the women's locker room. But now I need to find…"

"Married?" Danny interrupted, not caring one bit about her bag, "You were married?" Looking at his partner, he asked, "To her?"

Steve, holding his gaze steady on the woman he hadn't seen in seven years, finally asked in a quiet voice, "How are you, Jimmy?"

"Jimmy?" Danny repeated, looking around at his teammates, "Did he just call her Jimmy?"

But he seemed to be the only one of them who felt the need to speak, as the rest of the team were rendered mute by the surprising turn of events they had just witnessed. Ed DeLuca didn't seem to know what his next move was going to be either. And Harper and Steve were no help…they didn't seem to realize that anyone else was in the room.

"What are you doing here?" Steve asked his ex-wife, folding his arms across his chest, "Do you not get how divorce works?"

Those green eyes that Steve remembered getting lost in so easily were suddenly flashing fire at him and he felt a familiar surge of excitement course through him. Her beautiful face contorted in anger as she snapped, "I'm not here because of you. I'm just here because I'm here. I would be here whether you were here or not. You're just some guy who happens to know me."

"Thank you," he shot back, trying his best to conceal a smirk. He was always so good at pushing her buttons.

Knowing that he was baiting her, she sighed and said, "I didn't ... you know what I mean."

"No, I don't actually. Could you keep talking about being here and not being here until blood starts pouring out of my ears?" They were so good at this give and take. But there wasn't time for their history now, so he asked suddenly, "How'd you know I was here?"

"I didn't," she assured him, crossing her own arms over her bikini clad chest, "How could I? This is just an unhappy coincidence." And then as if something had just dawned on her, she asked, "What are you doing here anyway?"

"In Hawaii?"

"We'll get to that part," she assured him icily, "but for right now all I want to know is why you're _here_…at the police station."

"He's our boss," Chin told her, his soulful eyes still taking in the whole scene.

"Your boss?" Harper repeated, blinking quickly in surprise, "You're a cop now?"

"Leader of the 5-0 task force, actually," Steve informed her and then let his eyes travel down the length of her body as he smirked and remarked, "Nice outfit."

"It was good enough for Kai Akino," she informed him haughtily, but everyone standing around noticed how she self consciously pulled the jacket closed over herself.

Getting down to business, Steve asked, "And what does the San Diego Police Department want with a Hawaiian gang banger?"

"Actually, it's the Chicago Police Department now." Harper corrected him angrily, but she quickly flipped over to business mode as well. She had a few things to straighten out with the _leader of the 5-0 task force_, so she explained, "And your Hawaiian gang banger is our cop killer. Who, by the way, we tracked here to Hawaii after a six month investigation, staked out for two weeks until we confirmed his identity, and then arrested in a by the book undercover operation. And then, to be good team players, we called the governor's office to confirm the identity of your two guys here and suddenly Kai Akino's not in our custody anymore…he's in yours." Turning her anger on Danny, she added snidely, "The two guys who had absolutely nothing to do with this bust are now getting custody of our murderer."

Feeling the sudden need to defend himself, Danny tried to explain, "We did nothing because you swooped in before we got a chance to complete our operation…"

"And that's another thing," the redheaded detective fumed, gesturing around the room, "We were working in conjunction with Honolulu PD and they had no idea that you were even conducting an investigation at Club Halo."

"5-0 doesn't report to HPD…" Steve tried to explain, but that was about as far as he got.

"So, I've heard," she snapped, "But since you all work together on this little island, you could try checking in once in awhile." Drawing in a deep breath, she leveled her ex-husband with those eyes of hers as she served up her next blow, "But then again, you never did like to play by the rules, did you Steven?"

"Steven." Danny repeated and chuckled, obviously amused by the situation and the fact that this redheaded spitfire was calling Commander Steve McGarrett by his given name.

Ignoring both his partner and his ex-wife's career advice, Steve asked, "When did you move back to Chicago?"

"The day after I got served with divorce papers," Harper answered coldly.

Ignoring her pointed statement, Steve cleared his throat and stated, "Your talent was wasted in San Diego. You would've gotten restless…you were born to work for the Chicago Police Department." Grinning nervously at his own statement, he added, "Literally."

But Harper wasn't amused by his words. In fact, she seemed to lose a little bit of her swagger as she said quietly, "Well, for a few misguided years my focus was on something besides my career." Looking pointedly at her ex-husband, she stated matter of factly, "I won't make that mistake again."

Her statement stung and everyone in the room could see it on McGarrett's face. Guilt. Remorse. Sadness? No one could really tell because it was only a flicker of emotion and then it was gone. Knowing that he was unable to conceal it, Steve looked down at the floor and his team did a double take. For the first time since they had known him Commander Steve McGarrett was rendered speechless.

"James!"

The voice of Harper's boss, Lieutenant Mac Sheridan, echoed through the bullpen and startled everyone. As she turned to see him leaning out of the HPD Captain's office, he bellowed again, "Get your ass over here…the governor wants to talk to us. And bring the 5-0 guy!"

Smirking, Harper turned to walk toward the small office as she said, "Come on 5-0 guy…we're being summoned."

The pair walked off together, leaving their stunned partners staring after them like a group of teenage girls. Entering the office of Honolulu Police Captain Louis Kealoha, Steve and Harper joined Lt. Sheridan in looking down at the speaker phone in the middle of the room.

"Governor, Superintendent, we have been joined by Detective Harper James of the Chicago PD and Commander Steve McGarrett of Hawaii Five-0." Captain Kealoha began by introducing the newcomers. "Detective James was responsible for the arrest of Kai Akino and Commander McGarrett now has him in custody per order of the governor."

Harper did not realize that her father would be in on the phone call and closed her eyes to pray that he didn't say anything…

"Commander McGarrett."

Mickey James' silky smooth, deep baritone voice simply acknowledged Steve's presence in the room and Harper opened her eyes just in time to see him nod and respond, "Superintendent."

And that was it. Harper didn't know what she had been expecting…running into Steve had thrown her off her game. She should have known that her father would have been nothing but a complete professional in the situation, but she also knew that her ex-husband was not one of Mickey James' favorite people.

Governor Jameson's voice rang through the small office as she said, "Congratulations on a flawless undercover operation, Detective. And my condolences on the loss of your partner. Superintendent James tells me that he was a good man."

"He was, ma'am," Harper agreed, not quite sure where this conversation was headed.

"Commander," the governor continued, "because we are talking about the murder of a police officer, Superintendent James and I have decided that the Chicago team will be taking Mr. Akino into custody and transporting him to Illinois so that he can have his day in court."

Harper tried very hard not to smile at her victory…she knew her father could talk anyone into anything. It's what made him such a good cop and an even better boss. And the look of dismay on Steve's face made it somehow sweeter.

"But while he is still in 5-0 custody, Commander, your team will conduct a joint investigation with the Chicago team to find out about his illegal narcotics business here on the island."

"So basically, you two will have to work together," Superintendent James added matter of factly, "We need to be assured that the two teams will be able to work together for the greater good. I am assuming that there will be no conflict of interest here. Am I correct?"

"Yes, sir," both Steve and Harper answered at the same time.

"Good," the Superintendent stated and then added, "Governor, Captain Kealoha, it's been a pleasure. Mac, let's get the arrangements underway for the transfer of the prisoner. And if you gentlemen don't mind, I'd like a moment to speak with my daughter. In private."

As the governor hung up and Harper stepped forward to pick up the telephone receiver, Mac, Steve, and Lou quickly made themselves scarce so that father and daughter could finish their part of the conversation. Walking back out into the bullpen alone, Ed DeLuca asked Steve, "Where's Harper?"

"Talking to her father."

"The Superintendent?" Danny asked, looking over Steve's shoulder toward the Captain's office.

"No, we're done talking to the Superintendent," Steve said grimly, "I'm pretty sure she's talking to her father now."

"And he's not a big fan of yours, I take it?" Chin Ho deduced, biting back a grin.

Steve shook his head in confirmation as Danny, his eyes still on Harper, stated bluntly, "She is way too hot for you."

"Thank you."

Getting back on topic, Ed asked, "So, what happened in there?"

"Akino is yours," Steve told him, "but we get to talk to him first about the drugs he's moving onto the island. And then you can take him back to Chicago."

"I'm going to want in on that interview of yours," Harper chimed in, coming out of the Captain's office and approaching the teams.

"That's not going to happen." Steve informed her, still miffed at losing custody of his drug dealer, "You'll have plenty of time to interview him on the plane ride back to Chicago."

Harper narrowed her eyes at him and said, "Don't get angry at me and pitch one of your little hissy fits. This wasn't my idea, you know. I was on the trail of a cop killer who we happened to track here to Hawaii. I didn't even know this is where you had disappeared to."

Steve has no response, so she repeated in a tight voice, "I didn't know you were here."

"Didn't say that you did," he finally answered nonchalantly.

"Then stop being a jerk!" Harper exclaimed, stepping forward and going toe to toe with him. "Despite everything that went on between us, I am a damn good cop!"

"The best I know."

"You are lucky to have me as part of this investigation!" she reminded him.

"Yes I am!"

"Then why the hell are we fighting?"

"Because we're good at it!"

The pair stared at each other for what felt like an eternity and you could cut the tension in the room with a knife. Finally, Harper said in a calm voice, "Fine."

"Fine." Steve agreed.

"I'm going to change," she announced, slinging her bag over her shoulder and heading off down the same hallway she had retreated down earlier.

"You do that," he mocked, pulling out his phone and beginning to dial. "I'll be waiting out here. Don't take too long."

After watching Harper stomp down the hallway and Steve pretend that he was not annoyed, Danny turned to Kono and Chin as he said sarcastically, "Oh, this is going to be fun."


	4. Sometimes Answers Lead to More Questions

_**Olivia Marie 20 and Beth – those are great story ideas, but I am going in a bit of a different direction. I hope you continue to enjoy it.**_

_**moonjat54 – I'm glad you picked up on those character points. But don't worry, more will be revealed soon. And yes, Danny will definitely not let this go!**_

_**Kajal – Thanks for reading! I haven't decided if Catherine exists in this realm or not, so I hope you keep checking in as I figure it out**_

_**And to the rest of the readers and reviewers – Thank you, thank you, thank you so much! The amount of support this fic has gotten is overwhelming and humbling!**_

_**I've said it before and I'll say it again…writing interrogation scenes are hard! But I gave it my best try…**_

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><p><strong>Chapter Four – Sometimes the Answers Lead to More Questions<strong>

"_The idea that the police cannot ask questions of the person that knows most about the crime is an infamous decision." _~ Edwin Meese III

_Honolulu Police Station Bullpen, 15 minutes later…_

"So this is an interesting development, huh?"

Kono had been the first one of the team brave enough to approach their boss and Steve looked up at her in feigned confusion at the question.

"What's that?" he asked, pretending that he didn't know what she was talking about. "Our local gang kingpin being suspected of killing that cop up in Chicago?" But when Kono gave him a knowing look, he smirked and said, "Oh, you mean the ex-wife in the woman's locker room thing."

"Yeah, that thing," Kono shot back, shaking her head at his attempt at humor. "You were married?"

"In another lifetime."

"And all of the times that we talked about my ex-wife and my divorce and my misery, you never once thought that was a relevant piece of information to share?" Danny asked, moving over to the desk and taking the file that Steve was pretending to read out of his hands.

"No."

"No?" The New Jersey detective asked, raising an eyebrow at his partner. "Why not?"

"Because we were talking about _your_ ex-wife and _your_ divorce and _your_ misery, all of which you decided to share," Steve pointed out, grabbing the file back from Danny, "_I_ chose not to share."

"Why-?" Kono started to ask, but her wiser cousin cut her off.

"You really didn't know she was here in Hawaii?" Chin Ho asked, feeling confident that their boss would answer that question instead.

"I really didn't know she was in Hawaii." The Commander reiterated, opening the case file up again.

But Danny was not ready to put this issue to rest, so he asked, "How is that possible?"

"Because we are DIVORCED!" Steve exploded, frustrated by the situation and all of the questions that surrounded it. Realizing that it wasn't fair to take it out on them, he lowered his voice and added, "And it didn't end…well."

"Which, in McGarrett speak, means that he skipped town and served me with divorce papers two months later."

All four heads snapped around to see that Harper James had re-entered the bullpen with an amused smirk on her face. And Steve's mouth went dry. After all this time, she still got to him. He couldn't believe it. So when he looked up and saw her standing there in her "get down to business" outfit with her head slightly tipped to the side, her eyebrow arched and looking bold as sin, he felt his breath catch in his throat. After ten years his body was trained to respond to hers and Commander McGarrett couldn't stop himself from letting his eyes take a familiar walk down her body…tailored black pants and jacket, crisp white blouse, standard issue black boots, hair brushed out and falling loosely over her shoulders in crimson waves, face freshly scrubbed and remade with light make-up, and her mother's locket hanging from a simple silver chain around her neck. As fantastic as she had looked in that sparkly two piece and stiletto heels, this was how he remembered her…soft, natural, and ready to kick ass at a moment's notice.

Sensing that her ex-husband (_and every other male in the room_) was giving her the once over, she held out her arms and did a little spin as she asked, "So, do I look presentable enough to interview my suspect now?"

"Presentable is a good word," Danny answered, winking at her in a comical way.

"Okay, let's do this," Steve managed to choke out, standing up and giving his partner a shove for his last comment. Giving his team a look that told them that they were not going to be joining in on the interview, he fell into step with his ex-wife as they walked down the hallway to where Kai Akino was sweating it in the interrogation room. Sensing the intensity radiating from her, Steve suddenly felt the need to warn, "We don't want to spook him, so you might want to tread lightly…"

"I was done treading lightly the moment that Sammy's body hit the pavement," she answered, looking straight ahead and not glancing over at him. "Now I'm strapping on the combat boots."

Before Steve could say anything else, they had arrived at the interrogation room door and Harper pushed it open. She walked into the little room, followed closely by her ex-husband, and evaluated the man opposite her as she sat down at the metal table. Tall, bleached-blonde spiky hair, dark stubble, tanned skin. His posture was relaxed, but there was a distinctive wariness around the man's eyes. Being left alone in the interrogation room for an hour didn't appear to have rattled him; he sat with his chair tilted against the wall. It wasn't too surprising; two stints in prison for drug trafficking and sexual assault would have hardened him.

"My diamond girl," Kai exclaimed the moment that he saw her walk into the room. There was a slight leering nature to the way he looked at Harper as he spoke and Steve clenched his jaw and his fists simultaneously. Grinning like the cat who ate the canary, Kai gave her the once over and added, "I gotta tell ya, doll, I liked the other outfit better. But this buttoned up, professional look has its advantages, too."

Harper did her best to ignore the way that he was blatantly checking her out as Steve sat down across the table from him and asked calmly, "How do you know TJ Carlton, Mr. Akino?"

Kai nonchalantly shifted his chair back onto all four feet and smiled as he asked innocently, "Who?"

Steve pulled a photo out of the folder he had placed on the desk and slid the photo towards Kai as he repeated, "TJ Carlton. Known drug distributor on the island."

The man picked up the photo and made a pretense of studying it, before throwing it back on the table as he said, "Sorry, don't know him."

"We have a witness who can place you with Mr. Carlton two weeks ago."

"Really?" the gang leader leaned back, smiling and raising his eyebrows. "I find that hard to believe."

"Why is that, Mr. Akino?"

The creep leaned in towards Steve and flicked the photo at him. "Because I have never met Mr. Carlton, and anyone who said that I had would be lying."

"Let's try a different tactic then, shall we?" the Commander suggested quickly, anticipating his response and picking up the folder as he pulled out the surveillance photos Kono had taken at different drug buys around the island. "Here we are meeting with TJ Carlton in Kapiolani Park…it's kind of a dark photograph but that neat hairdo of yours is pretty recognizable. And here you are meeting with him in the parking lot of an ABC store…meeting in his car is very cloak and dagger. It seems like you may have done this before…"

Kai didn't even blink before he replied, "That's not me, man."

Harper, who had remained silent up until this point, suddenly opened the folder she had brought into the room with her and said, "Well then maybe you'll remember this man…Chicago Police Detective Samuel Jameson Norval."

The detective dropped her photographs unceremoniously on the table in front of Kai Akino. Photos taken on the streets of Chicago the night that Sammy Norval had been murdered. Death in all its graphic glory, shown from every angle. Nothing hidden, all revealed. She watched Akino's reaction and saw a flicker of something that was quickly suppressed, too quickly for her to determine what it was.

Kai's lips twitched into a smile. "Not such a good protector of the people, is he? He can't even protect his own self."

Harper could feel Steve's steadying hand on her leg under the table. She knew he could sense that she was about to blow and get the entire interview thrown out. Quickly squeezing his hand to let him know that she was still in control, Harper took a deep breath and steadied herself as she said, "He was ambushed on the street in Chicago…gunned down while he was off duty. His pregnant wife and four year old son were waiting for him in their favorite restaurant down the street."

Her eyes, which could flash fire hot enough to burn a man's soul, bore into his with such a cold ferocity that it made McGarrett feel uncomfortable. But Kai Akino just smiled and looked at her.

"That's a very sad story, diamond girl."

"It is," the redheaded detective agreed, looking for any sign of recognition on his smug face. "But it is not as sad as your story is about to be."

"My story?" Matthews asked, interest showing in his face. "My story is already sad. But I'm a survivor."

"That's good," Steve remarked dryly, leaning back in his chair, "Because you're gonna need that kind of spirit while you're sitting on death row."

"Hawaii don't have the death penalty, man."

"No, it does not," Steve agreed, "but Illinois has executed a total of twelve people since 1976. That's practically right up there with Texas numbers…"

"Illinois?"

"Yeah, see that is where Chicago is located," the Commander informed him, as if he were talking to a six year old child, "And where you are going to face charges for the murder of Samuel Norval."

On the other side of the glass, Danny looked at Detective Ed DeLuca, who was watching the interview with him, and asked, "Didn't Illinois put a moratorium on the death penalty?"

"He don't need to know that," DeLuca remarked with a smirk.

Back in the interview room, Kai was rendered speechless for a moment and it gave Harper the opportunity to say, "Save your breath, McGarrett. He's not afraid of you. Or me. Or Chicago's death penalty. He's a proud drug kingpin who lives his day to day life under the possibility of execution. And his enemies executions are a lot less dainty than ours and tend to take place without the bother and expense of due process."

"So you're just giving up?" Steve asked, feigning surprise but following her lead willingly. They were good at this part.

"Giving up? When have you ever known me to give up, Steven?" Harper asked, almost sweetly. "That's not what I said at all. We're just going to have to figure out something that does scare him."

"Nothing scares me, bitch," Akino replied, narrowing his eyes at the redheaded detective. And in that moment both Steve and Kai knew that Harper James knew exactly what scared him. So, Steve just sat back and got ready to enjoy the ride.

"Do you have family, Kai?" Harper asked calmly, measuring his reaction. When he tried to ignore her question, she simply smiled as she informed him, "Of course you do. Did you really think I would come in here without knowing that about you? See, I am a very good investigator, Kai. And after we found your DNA on my partner's body, I began investigating you. So I know all about your little brother, Mehki."

Steve watched as Kai unconsciously straightened up in his chair the minute his brother's name left Harper's lips and knew that she had hit on a sensitive spot. He had to keep himself from smiling as she continued, "But he's not in a gang, is he? No, he managed to stay the course…freshman at Honolulu University, never been arrested, living with mom, helping to pay the bills by working for a living at The Steak Shack."

"Sounds like a real stand up kid," Steve remarked, lacing his fingers together on top of the table in front of him before he asked, "Are you sure the two of you are related?"

Harper chuckled as she mused, "Ah, brothers. They are something else, aren't they?"

"She should know," the Commander explained, tilting his head in Harper's direction, "she has four of them."

Nodding in confirmation, the detective continued, "Four brothers. All cops. Plus, I was raised by cops…dad, grandad, a couple of uncles. You know those Chicago cop families…it's a multi-generational thing. And one thing the cops in my family liked to do was sit around and tell stories. Mainly, I'm sure they were trying to one up each other. But in listening to all of those story swapping sessions, I learned a lot about how gangs and corruption work. See the guys I grew up with were dealing with gangs long before you were ever on the scene, Kai…the Irish, the Italians, the Russians, all the big name players. And what I learned was that when the head of the gang is cut off, the body has this innate ability to reform itself. Like salamanders or lizards."

Harper stood up and moved away from the table to lean against the far wall. Crossing her arms over her chest, she simply glared at Kai as she added, "So if we took you back to Chicago to sit on death row…because that's what happens to cop killers in Chicago…but wait, you already know that. That must be why you high tailed it back to Hawaii after killing my partner. Anyway, while you are sitting on death row up in Chicago, I'm sure one of your top lieutenants would step up and take over the Wilson Crips in your absence. It would probably turn into an all out war…"

"And we thank you for dropping that on our doorstep, detective." Steve deadpanned.

"You are very welcome, Commander." Harper retorted without missing a beat, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "But it does leave me to wonder…what would happen to your mother and brother if you are not around to protect them, Kai? Would they become casualties in this gang war? Or rewards?"

"Is that what scares you, Kai?" Steve asked, leaning across the table to get right in the face of a visibly shaken Kai. "Leaving mommy and baby brother to fend for themselves against your gang bangers?"

"You've made a lot of enemies, haven't you Kai?" the redhead added, picking up where Steve left off, "Enemies that wouldn't hesitate to use your family as collateral on their climb to the top."

"Was that a threat?" Kai asked Harper accusingly. Then turning to Steve, he asked, "Did you just hear her threaten me and my family?"

"No," they both answered at the same time causing Steve to grin and say, "We gotta stop doing that."

Kai watched Steve for a moment and then looked over to a smug Harper as he informed her, "You can't mess with family, bitch."

Both the murderer and the S.E.A.L. watched as her face turned to stone. Emotionless, yet bubbling just below the surface Steve could detect all of her anger and hatred as she said icily, "Samuel Norval _was_ my family. My partner. And you shot him dead like a dog in the street. So the list of things I can and can't do became drastically shorter the day you killed my friend."

Steve could tell that she was trying very hard to control her emotions and if he wasn't mistaken he could see her blinking back the hot tears that had to be forming. She was the daughter and granddaughter of cops, the sister of cops…all men in blue were like family to her. But most especially her partner.

"But that wasn't enough for you, was it Kai?" she continued, reigning in her temper because she knew she had the upper hand, "You had to insult him, didn't you? You had to see for yourself that he was dead and then you spit on him. Right on his face. And that was your fatal mistake. Because in your spit was the DNA evidence that we are going to use to nail your ass to the wall."

"I want a deal."

Both Harper and Steve looked at him incredulously, as if he had just told them that it was raining unicorns.

"Well, I want my partner back," Harper sneered, "I guess neither of us are going to get what we want today."

"You don't know what it's like!" Kai exclaimed, focusing his gaze on Harper. "You think I don't know who you are? I know you're Chicago royalty." He crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned back in his chair and tried to play his hand by saying, "Harper Elizabeth James…daughter and granddaughter the last two Chicago Police Superintendents. And your mother was old money Chicago…I bet Oprah and Hillary Clinton came to dinner at least once a week while you were growing up. You never had to survive on the streets."

"No, I didn't," she agreed, coming back to the table and leaning over to look Akino in the eye, "But this isn't about me. This is about a little boy who saw his father gunned down in the street, gun pointed right at his daddy's face. Point blank. But that's not the worst part of it. Because you see, his father was killed for someone else's crime. The horror, the random unfairness of it. The boy doesn't remember any of his childhood after that day and his father's murder hardens the boy. It then becomes his mission to take to the same streets, join a gang, carry a gun, try to right some of those wrongs from oh so long ago." Standing up straight and crossing her arms over her own chest, Harper leveled him with a piercing look as she continued, "But that's not your life story, Kai. It's Sammy Norval's. You see the difference between the two of you is he put on a Chicago police uniform and carried a service revolver. There's a huge difference between his gang and yours. He worked to keep your gang alive…them, their families, their neighbors. Samuel Norval would have been willing to give up his life to save yours. That's was his job. That was his mission. And you killed him for it."

This time Steve was almost sure he saw her blink back the tears as she came to stand right in front of Kai Akino and moved closer, leaning over the table as she sneered, "Me? I don't pity you, Kai. There's lots of people with worse stories than yours and they never hurt anyone. You killed an unarmed Chicago Police Detective and you want me to feel sorry for you because your daddy didn't kiss you when you were a baby?" Straightening up again, Harper moved toward the door as she delivered her parting shot, "Rot in hell, you son of a bitch."

"That was a brilliant speech, Diamond." Kai spat out, watching her walk away from him. When she turned to face him, he asked, "But haven't you ever heard that you shouldn't kill the messenger?"

Steve could see the flash of anger in her brilliant green eyes and he immediately moved in…not to protect Harper, but to protect the poor slug who didn't know what he was in for.

"No, no let him speak," she told Steve, practically pushing him out of the way, "What are you trying to say to me?"

"I'm not the one who wanted your copper dead." Akino told them, gaining some of his swagger back after Harper had mopped the floor with him. When he saw that he had her full attention, he added snidely, "In fact, I didn't even know his name until you mentioned it. I was just the hired gun."

"Who hired you."

"No way," Akino shook his head, "I want a deal."

"And we want a name." Steve interjected, "You're not in a position to deal."

"Oh really?" Kai asked, smirking up at the Commander, "Because what I have to say will be of some interest to you, too, Commander McGarrett. You and your father."

McGarrett didn't even have to motion to Harper because she instinctively turned off the cameras in the interview room and as soon as she had, Steve had Kai up out of his chair and pinned to the nearby wall. His large muscular arms reached out and drove his fists of steel into Akino's surprised face. He then drove the palm of his left hand into Kai's upper chest, just below his throat and delivered a heavy blow to his gut with his right. And in one swift, deft motion, the Navy S.E.A.L. had the suspect on the floor with his hands pinned behind his back. He put one of his knees on his back and commanded, "Give us a name."

The tough gang banger crumpled under the fierce strength of Steve McGarrett and he squirmed as he cried out, "Police brutality!"

"He's not the police," Harper informed him smugly and then repeated, "Give us the name of the guy you are working for."

"Wo Fat."


	5. Who Is Wo Fat?

_**Okay, I'm going on record here to tell you that this is not my favorite chapter. This is mainly a "bridge chapter" to get us to what happens at the end of this chapter and move us into the events of the next one. I will be posting the next chapter immediately so be on the look out for the better one! So, just take this for what it is and I promise to do better in the future…**_

**Chapter Five – Who is Wo Fat?**

"_Confusion is a word we have invented for an order which is not yet understood."_

_~ Henry Miller_

"This changes everything."

Steve slammed the door to the interview room closed behind him and practically sprinted down the hallway toward the bullpen, pulling his phone out of his pocket. Harper, whom he had practically pushed out of the interview room, had to run to catch up with him.

And she had absolutely no idea what had just happened. But she knew it was big.

"Who is Wo Fat?" the redhead asked, needing to take three steps to keep up with one of his, "And why did you rush me out of that interview room?" But she knew that he wasn't going to answer her because he wasn't even paying attention to her. He was focused on whoever was on the other end of that phone of his and when he was focused on something, nothing else in the world mattered. But she couldn't stop herself from asking, "Who are you calling?"

"The governor," he told her and then in a surprising move, turned to look at her as he added, "And eventually, I'm sure, your father."

The alarm bells went off in Harper's brain. There was no way that Steve would voluntarily call her father and he definitely would not do it not twice in one day. Trying to keep the panic out of her voice, she asked, "Why?"

"Because Kai Akino is not going back to Chicago," he answered, but avoided looking at her as he added, "Or anywhere else for that matter."

The words stung in Harper's ears and she stopped dead in her tracks. She couldn't believe what she had just heard.

"What are you talking about?" Harper fumed, storming after him. Grabbing Steve's arm and spinning him around to face her, she shouted at him, "We had a deal! He killed my partner."

Their eyes locked for the second time that day, but Steve was the first one to look away this time as he said into his phone, "This is Commander Steve McGarrett and I need to speak to Governor Jameson immediately." He paused and motioned to Chin and Kono, who had emerged from the viewing room, before saying, "Well, pull her out of a meeting…this is important."

"What's up, boss?" Kono asked, walking up to Steve and Harper with Chin Ho at her side.

"I want you to coordinate with Honolulu PD and get Kai Akino transferred back to 5-0 Headquarters," he practically barked at her, "I'll meet you there."

"No way…" Harper started to say, but that was as far as she got.

"Governor…" Steve said into his phone and before Harper knew what was happening, he was walking out the door of HPD.

Harper felt like the world was spinning out of control. She had absolutely no idea what was going on and she did not function well in that kind of environment. Whoever this Wo Fat character was, he had just sent everyone into a tailspin. And Harper needed to know why.

Grabbing Danny as he started to follow his partner out the door, Harper asked, "Are you kidding me? Where is he going?"

"Back to the 5-0 offices," Danny replied, looking distracted.

"Why? What the hell is going on?"

"This changes everything."

The Chicago detective wanted to scream. But instead, she drawled, "So I've heard. Does someone want to tell me why?"

"You don't know who Wo Fat is?"

"No."

Danny made what Harper would have categorized as a fish face as he drew in a deep breath and then blew it out again unceremoniously before he said, "Wo Fat is a local crime boss. We think he's tied to the Yakuza."

"And?"

"And what?" he asked, uncomfortably shifting his weight from one foot to another.

"That's it?" Harper challenged him, "So Steve is going to challenge the transfer of Kai Akino because he's working for a Hawaiian crime boss?"

"Chinese."

"What?"

"Chinese crime boss," Danny corrected her, looking around at all of the sudden movement going on in the HPD bullpen while thinking of different ways to get out of this awful conversation.

"Would you stop bullshitting me, please?" Harper pleaded, trying to get Danny to look at her. "What is the big deal with Wo Fat?"

"I think that is a conversation that you should have with Steve…"

"Well, Steve high tailed it out of here like his house was on fire so I'm having the conversation with you instead," she reminded him, completely losing her cool, "Now would you please tell me why I can't take my cop killer back to Chicago?"

Letting out another long breath, Danny finally admitted, "Because your cop killer is working for the same man who may be responsible for the murder of Steve's mother…Wo Fat."

"Murder?" Harper asked, shaking her head in confusion, "He told me that she was killed by drunk driver."

"That's because, up until recently, that's what everyone thought." Danny explained and was about to say more when he suddenly caught sight of Kono coming around the corner into the bullpen. She looked like she had just seen a ghost, so he called to her, "What's wrong?"

Looking back and forth between Danny and Harper, Kono stated quietly, "Kai Akino is dead."


	6. Changes

_**moonjat54, I hope your question about Harper knowing about Steve's father will be answered in this chapter. (hint, hint, wink, wink)**_

_**I'm so glad most of the other readers enjoy the character of Harper. That is sooooooooo important to me because people won't read a story about characters they don't care about.**_

_**There is a time and location jump in this chapter and I don't want it to be too confusing. But hopefully I made it work and explained everything that we missed. Well, at least the things that I am ready to explain at this point. Okay readers, sit back and enjoy this turn of events…**_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Six – Changes<strong>

"_Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomfort."_

Arnold Bennett

_Commander Steve McGarrett's office at Hawaii 5-0 Headquarters, an hour later…_

"You son of a bitch! I can't believe you!"

Steve looked up from his computer just in time to see his ex-wife storm through the door to his office with fire blazing in her eyes. He was pretty certain that if she had been carrying any kind of weapon, he would be dead.

"Whoah, crazy person!" Steve exclaimed, instinctively jumping up from his chair and standing behind it. It was fairly comical to see the ex-Navy S.E.A.L. using nothing but a swivel chair as protection from a petite redhead, but none of that registered with either of them as he continued, "Calm down! What the hell is going on?"

"Don't you play dumb with me!" Harper fumed, coming right up to his desk and putting her fists down on it as she accused, "I can't believe you'd stoop so low!"

"I don't…" he began, but she didn't want to hear what he had to say.

"I just came from having a little sit down with my Lieutenant in the captain's office at the Honolulu Police Department. Do you know why?"

"Because you acted like a crazy person one too many times?"

"No," she spat out, ignoring his attempt at humor, "Because the mayor of Chicago got a call from his friend, the Governor of Hawaii, who requested my assistance on the Five-0 task force." Harper crossed her arms over her chest as she watched the surprise cross Steve's face, but she wasn't sure she believed it. And before he could protest, she continued, "So as a personal favor to his old friend, the Mayor called my boss and I got put on administrative leave so that I could spend some extra time in Hawaii while my team heads back to Chicago! I can't believe you did this to me!"

"I didn't do anything…"

"Seriously? That's your story?" Harper mocked, her voice dripping with sarcasm. But sarcasm turned to accusation as she reminded him, "You got yourself out of HPD headquarters so fast that it made everyone's head spin. You were a man on a mission…barking out orders and calling your friend the governor…and nobody was getting in your way. So now you're seriously going to stand there and tell me that you didn't get on the phone with your boss five seconds after you learned that Kai Akino was dead and that meant he wasn't going to hand Wo Fat over to you on a silver platter?"

"No," he told her, shaking his head. But her accusing glare forced him to say, "Okay, I did call her again. But it's not what you are thinking…."

"You didn't demand to take over my case?" Harper interrupted, not believing a word that was coming out of his mouth. She was still reeling from all of the bizarre events that occurred in the last few hours which happened to include running into the ex-husband who had abandoned her, finding out that her partner's murderer had been killed inside a police station, and then being told in no uncertain terms that she would not be returning to Chicago with her team.

Steve flinched when she called his bluff and stammered, "Well, I…"

"You son of a bitch!"

"Kai Akino is dead!" he reminded her, getting his composure back quickly, "He is no longer of any use to you. And he sure as hell isn't of any use to us. But you ran a thorough investigation into his actions and background for the last 6 months and tracked him to Hawaii. I'm betting that somewhere in that investigation is information I can use to get closer to Wo Fat." Finally coming out from hiding behind his chair, Steve assured her, "I called the governor to tell her that I needed her to subpoena your case files so that we could start digging around for evidence. I DID NOT ask her to call your boss and get you transferred to. . .wait a minute! You've been assigned to 5-0?"

It was as if the news had just registered in his brain and when she nodded in affirmation, he asked, "My team?"

"Is there the another 5-0 team?"

"Governor Jameson assigned you to my team?" Steve repeated, reaching for the phone as he assured her, "Okay, I can fix this…"

"There is no FIXING this!" Harper shouted at him angrily, "It's done…I have been temporarily relieved of my duties with the Chicago Police Department so that I can help track down Wo Fat. Your governor, my mayor…they by-passed my father completely in their manipulative little game."

Putting the phone back in its cradle, Steve slumped down into his chair and Harper could see the wheels spinning in his head. The last five minutes of his life had really thrown him for a loop, but she knew him well enough to know that his laser focus was now operating in warp speed as he tried to make sense of this turn of events. She didn't know whether to throttle him or help him at this point…

"Kai Akino was killed at the Honolulu Police Station," he finally said slowly and thoughtfully, "five minutes after he revealed that he was hired by Wo Fat to kill your partner. Which means that we can no longer trust anyone inside of HPD. So, the governor figured that we needed another investigator..."

"And she decided to outsource," Harper finished for him, following his line of thought with ease. And then twisting her face into a grimace, she added, "And of all the cops in the universe, this had to get dropped in my lap?"

Looking up at her, Steve chided, "It's always been matter of perspective with you, Jimmy. You're not looking at this…"

"What perspective should I have then?" she interrupted, not liking his condescending tone. He may have meant it to be playful but that seemed to irritate her even more.

"That out of all the cops in the universe, she CHOSE you," he pointed out, leaning back in his chair and looking up at her angry face, "You have working knowledge of Kai Akino and a need to find Wo Fat, since he is the one who ordered the hit on your partner. This way we put our considerable talents together, increasing our chances of finding him. Plus…"

His voice trailed off and he pursed his lips as if he weren't going to say anything else, so she prompted him impatiently, "Plus what?"

"Plus, the team trusts you. She trusts you." Pausing again and gazing at her honestly, he added softly, "I trust you."

The moment he had created was far too personal and his words were far too intimate for Harper to deal with and she felt her head start to spin again, so to diffuse the situation the detective let out a wry little laugh and retorted, "That's rich."

"What?"

"Well, trust has never really been our strong point, has it Steven?" she reminded him pointedly, shifting uncomfortably under his gaze. She didn't like where this was going.

"This is different," he said calmly, masking any other emotions that may have been bubbling under the surface as he flatly stated, "This isn't about us."

"What is it about?"

"Catching a killer."

"I already do that," she reminded him haughtily, "In case you've forgotten, I have a job that requires me to catch killers every day. In Chicago."

"Chicago is cold in February," Steve pointed out, trying to keep the tone of the conversation light, "So you might as well stay here and catch a killer with the sun shining on your face and balmy breezes blowing through your hair."

He was trying to make a joke, but he should have remembered that he wasn't all that funny. Because her face twisted up in anger again as she fumed, "This is funny to you?"

"I was…"

But apparently it wasn't his turn to talk. Not yet.

"I am a Chicago legacy cop, Steve." Harper interrupted him angrily, "And not just any legacy cop…I am the daughter and the granddaughter of the last two Police Superintendent's of the City of Chicago. Not to mention the fact that I ran away from home to work in San Diego for a few years just as my career was hitting the fast track." A flash of guilt crossed Steve's handsome face as she continued, "And then I had to come crawling back with my tail between my legs and start all over again. So I did…because the world of the Chicago PD is the world I want to be a part of. But I have had to fight ten times as hard to get half the respect for my entire career. And I've done it. I kept my head down, I worked hard, and I rose up through the ranks fair and square. I made it to Homicide before I was 35…something that no other woman has ever done. I've finally got the respect that I deserve and you want me to throw it all away to join your little vigilante task force?"

Steve heard her words and he knew that they were true, but there was another truth here that she was not seeing yet. So, he gently reminded her, "My vigilante task force is your best shot at finding the monster who killed your partner. You do want to find Wo Fat, don't you?"

"How am I supposed to know?" she shot back. "I don't even know who he is!"

"He's the man who killed my parents."

Whatever it was that Harper was expecting her ex-husband to say, it hadn't been that. His quiet admission rocked her to the core and she stood there simply staring at him. And that's when she saw it…the thing she had been missing since Wo Fat had entered the equation back in the HPD interrogation room.

Pain.

As infuriating as Steven John McGarrett could be, she also knew better than anyone that he was a fearless, compassionate, and intensely loyal man who would risk everything for the people he loved. But he also kept his emotions extremely close to the vest. And that was why Harper had missed seeing the pain that was now so clearly written all over his face and radiating from his eyes.

Blinking back the unexpected tears that were suddenly welling up behind her eyes, she asked hoarsely, "You father is dead?"

"He was murdered by a terrorist that I had been tracking for Naval Intelligence…Victor Hesse. I have recently found out that Victor Hesse was working for…"

"Wo Fat," she finished for him quietly.

"It's the reason I came back to Hawaii." Steve told her, looking down to avoid her compassionate gaze. He couldn't handle it just then. "The reason that the 5-0 task force was created."

The silence that fell over the small office was neither tense or uncomfortable. It was simply silence. The silence that exists between two people who are assured of each other's devotion, strength, and compassion when words are not necessary. They let that silence hang there between them for what seemed like an eternity before Harper said in a small voice, "I was a big fan of your dad's."

Steve smiled…not a forced, professional smile like they had previously shared on this disastrous day, but a real honest to God smile…as he replied quietly, "He liked you, too. He gave me hell when he found out that we…that I…that it was over between us."

"Well, now I like him even more," she joked softly, returning his genuine smile with one of her own. Suddenly exhausted and no longer feeling combative, Harper collapsed on the nearby couch and met her ex-husband's penetrating gaze with one of her own.

"Listen," Steve began, coming around from behind his desk and sitting on the corner of it nearest to the couch, "having you transferred to my team was not my idea, but it is a good one. We are going to need the best of the best to bring down a criminal like Wo Fat and you certainly fit into that category. Plus, we kill two birds with one stone…you get to find out why your partner was murdered and I get to find out why my parents were killed. So, will you help me?"

He watched carefully as Harper's beautiful face softened a bit and she let out a sigh…but it was not a sigh of surrender. It was a sigh of caution and uncertainty which she followed up by saying, "It's not that easy. You said before that this wasn't about us and it's not. Or at least, it shouldn't be. But there's more to it than just…" she drew in a deep breath and reminded him, "We were married, Steve. That comes with stuff. Good stuff, bad stuff…stuff. And I know it's easy to pretend that it's not on the table, but it is. Because all of that stuff that we have avoided dealing with for the last seven years is going to be there every day. And we can't avoid it anymore…"

"So let's deal with it," he said suddenly.

"What?"

"Let's get it out of the way right now so that it won't be a problem…"

"Right now?" she asked, sitting up on the couch and looking at him like he was mad man.

"Right now," he repeated, getting up from the edge of his desk and pacing irately around the office. The change in his demeanor was startling as he continued angrily, "I left. I admit it. Things got too hard and I bailed…is that what you want me to say?"

"Is that what I want you to say?" she shouted back at him, suddenly as angry as he was and not completely sure why. But then again, that was the very definition of their relationship. Glaring at him with intense ferocity, she admonished, "This is not simply some step in one of your 'by the book' procedural manuals. This is real life and you can't just decide that we are going to 'deal with it' and then declare that everything is fine between us! That's not how it works!"

From across the room, Steve returned her fierce glare and then suddenly had another change in demeanor. Slumping his shoulders and letting out a big sigh, he apologized quietly, "I'm sorry. That was…I shouldn't have done that…"

"Why did you marry me?"

She was still furious at him and the simple question had slipped out before she had the time to censor herself. And it caught them both off guard.

"What?" he asked in surprise.

But there was no going back now. It was out there and Harper had been the one to put it out there, whether she had meant to or not. So now she had to keep going with it. Standing up from the couch, she took a few steps forward and said, "Like you said, if we're dealing with it…let's go. Now it's my turn. And I want to know why you married me." It took every ounce of strength left in her body to keep her voice from trembling as she asked, "If I was never going to be enough for you…if our life together wasn't going to be enough, why did you even bother asking me to marry you?"

Damn it, she was going to cry. She was tired and her emotions were out of control and she couldn't keep the tears that were welling up her eyes from spilling over on her cheeks. And the sight of her like that…vulnerable and sad…tugged at emotions in Steve that he thought he had put away so long ago.

"Jimmy," he whispered hoarsely, moving forward. But he was unsure what he should do next. Every instinct within him wanted to pull her into his arms and just hold onto her. To forget the years and the pain that now stood between them and go back to a time when she was the center of his entire universe.

But then the decision as to what to do next was taken away from him. The phone on his desk buzzed and Kono's voice was heard over the intercom saying, "Boss, Governor Jameson is on line one. She says it's important."

Steve remained frozen in his spot, his eyes never leaving his ex-wife. He didn't know what to do.

But Harper did. Quickly wiping those forbidden tears from her cheeks, she told him in a clear voice, "You should probably get that. It seems that we are done with the 'dealing with it' step and now we're on to the next one."

And then she turned and walked out of his office.


	7. The Men Who Love Her Pt 1

_**The song used in this chapter is "This Time" by John Legend and besides being my favorite of his wonderful songs, I thought it worked perfectly in this fic. If you haven't heard it, I encourage you to listen sometime. **_

_**And now we get to the emotional stuff, with just a little bit of backstory thrown in for good measure! **__**Enjoy...**_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Seven – The Men Who Love Her (Pt. 1)<strong>

"_I, with a deeper instinct, choose a man who compels my strength, who makes enormous demands on me, who does not doubt my courage or my toughness, who does not believe me naive or innocent,__ who has the courage to treat me like a woman."_ ~ Anais Nin

_Harper's Hotel Room, Later that Night…_

It was a wine and chocolate kind of night.

Harper stood in the middle of the aisle of her hotel's gift boutique, The Gourmet Cellar, and perused the lovely little shop's lovely little selection of wine and cheese and chocolate. Of course with Hawaii being the honeymoon capital of the universe, she knew that most of the selections were for lovers who wanted to curl up together for a romantic evening. But they would also work well for a stressed out woman who was coming off one of the worst days of her life.

"Do you have any Viognier?" Harper inquired of the young sales assistant behind the counter as she placed a few varieties of chocolate in front of him. "It's my favorite white wine…"

"Never heard of it," the boy said, beginning to ring up her purchases.

"It's kind of hard to find and…never mind," she said with a sigh, noticing that the kid was barely looking at her, "Can I just get a bottle of Chardonnay?"

Picking up her bag of purchases, the redhead walked out of the boutique and headed for the nearest elevator. Not even bothering to stop at the desk to check her messages, all Harper could think of was a hot bubble bath, some relaxing music and a nice glass of wine. Just as she was stepping into the elevator, her phone went off at her hip. Glancing at the screen and sighing deeply, Harper braced herself as she answered, "Hi daddy."

"What the hell is going on down there?" Mickey James' voice boomed through the small device.

"Well, I was going to ask you the same question," his daughter retorted, shifting her bags around so that she could hold her phone more comfortably to her ear, "What the hell is going on up there?"

"I'm calling the Mayor…"

"No, don't do that," Harper pleaded, closing her eyes and leaning back against the wall of the elevator, "Please don't call…"

"Well, then I'm calling that damn governor…"

"No!" Harper repeated more forcefully. Sometimes shouting was the only way to get through to the James' men. "Do not do that! Daddy, do not make this any worse by…"

"Why?" he interrupted, the frustration coming through in his voice.

"Because you have been a cop in Chicago for a long time and you know that the last thing I need right now is for my father to call my boss for me…"

"Even if your father is the Superintendent of Police?"

"Especially because my father is the Superintendent of Police," Harper sighed as she pictured him sitting behind the big mahogany desk in his office, ready to declare war on the Mayor of Chicago. "And because it won't do any good. They didn't run it by you in the first place because they knew you wouldn't approve. It's a power play and it's done."

"I have been known to pull off a few power plays of my own," he reminded her, but she could hear the defeat beginning to take over in his voice.

"I know you have," she reassured him and then teased, "You are a very powerful man and that's why I love you. But the last thing you need is get into a feud with the man who signs your paycheck. And funds your department. The city of Chicago needs you more than I do this time. I'll be okay."

"This was McGarrett's idea, wasn't it?"

Walking off the elevator toward her room, Harper could envision the scowl on his face as he asked about her ex-husband. Mickey James and Steve McGarrett were two men who were never going to come close to liking each other. Opening her hotel room door, she told her father, "Actually, I don't think it was."

"Nothing good can come from the two of you working on that island together," Mickey warned as Harper set her bags down on the counter in the small kitchenette.

"If we take down the monster who killed Sammy, that will be something good."

"I don't trust him."

"I know," Harper replied, placing her bottle of wine in the refrigerator before kicking off her boots and flopping down on the bed. She really didn't want to have this conversation with her father right now.

"He's proven that he can't be trusted. Twice," he reminded her, "And now you're working with him to go after a ruthless killer…"

"Dad, no matter what else you think of Steve, he was a phenomenal S.E.A.L.," Harper protested, lying back on her pillow and closing her eyes. "And now I'm sure he's a phenomenal cop or whatever he is. And I'm not so bad, either. So safety isn't really the issue here."

"Harper, there are so many issues here that I don't even know where to begin…"

"I know, daddy," she repeated again and then reassured him, "But I can handle Steve and I can handle this investigation."

"Of course you can," Mickey agreed as if it hadn't even crossed his mind that she couldn't. And that was just one of the many reasons why she adored her father.

"But I won't be able to handle anything unless I get some sleep," she hinted, sitting up again.

"Right," her father said, taking the hint, "You've had a big day. Pour yourself a glass of wine, run a hot bath, and get to bed early."

"They didn't have any Viognier," she mock pouted.

"I'll send you a case," he assured her and she could feel his smile all the way from Chicago.

"I love you, daddy."

"I love you, baby girl."

Harper hung up her phone and began rummaging through her bag for her Ipod. Loading up her John Legend playlist and hooking it into the hotel room's sound system, she walked into the small bedroom and quickly began removing her work clothes and throwing them haphazardly on the bed. Sliding into one of the hotel's fluffy bathrobes, she headed into the bathroom to begin her relaxation routine. She had been running on pure adrenaline for months now and wasn't actually tired, but a long, hot soak in the tub sounded heavenly after the day she had. Filling up the basin of the large soaking tub with hot water and pouring in the tropical scented bubble bath provided by the hotel staff, Harper sat on the edge and circled her hand slowly in the warm, scented water. When the tub was full, she turned off the water and discarded her robe on the nearby counter. Lowering her body into the porcelain basin, she sighed with pleasure as the warm, soapy water cascaded over her weary body. Leaning her head back on a rolled up washcloth, the detective closed her eyes and finally began to relax.

_"I realized I made a mistake, I thought I needed some space. But I just let love go to waste. It's so crystal clear now that I need your here now. I gotta get you back today,"_ Harper sang softly along with her favorite song and could feel the tension begin to flow out of her overworked muscles and get lost in the floral scented bubbles. "_This time I want it all, showing you all the cards, giving you all my heart. This time I'll take the chance. This time I'll be your man. I can be all you need. This time it's all of me."_

The significance of the words were not lost on Harper's work addled brain as she replayed the scenes of the day…especially the ones starring her ex-husband. But after awhile, she just decided to let it go and enjoy the nothingness that filled up the space around her. Lying back against the tub, she closed her eyes and drifted off into relaxation world. After awhile, the playlist was nearing the end and Harper was contemplating the thought of getting out of the tub to restart it when she heard a pounding on her hotel room door. Her eyes flew open and she sat straight up.

"You've got to be kidding me," she muttered to herself, shaking her head in disgust. She knew that knock. She'd heard it before…too many times. And ignoring it was not going to make it go away.

So Harper pulled herself out of her soothing bath and put on her robe. Pulling the belt tight around her, she made her way out into the living room area and asked through the closed door, "How did you know I was staying here?"

"Do I have to remind you what I do for a living?"

Steve's voice came through the closed door and she could practically sense his annoyance with her response.

"Go away."

"We need to talk."

"I am all talked out," she informed him, leaning her forehead against the door and willing him to go away. "I just want to go to sleep."

"Jimmy, open the door," Steve commanded, "I feel like an idiot standing out here in the hallway. People are starting to stare."

"I'm not dressed."

"It's nothing I haven't seen before…" he reminded her dryly.

_Well, that's not true_, Harper thought. _It's all seven years…older._

"What do you want?" she asked, not sure she wanted to deal with him so soon after their last encounter.

"To come in," he repeated. "Now will you please open this door before I have to kick it in?"

Knowing that he would, she sighed and unlocked the door. Opening it up to see him casually leaning against the door frame, she retorted, "We really need to have a discussion about your boundary issues. Or lack of them."

"That hurt," her ex said, walking past her into the hotel room and instinctively let his eyes do a sweep of the place. Deciding that it met with his approval, he grinned at her and asked, "So how are you going to make it up to me?"

"You interrupted my evening. And showed up here without calling first," she shot back. "I think the better question is, how are you going to make it up to me?"

"I come bearing gifts," Steve said, holding up the bottle he was carrying, "I thought you might need this."

Harper couldn't help breaking into a smile when she saw his gift. Accepting his peace offering, she whispered softly, "Viognier."

"Still your favorite?"

"They didn't have any down in the gift shop," she informed him and then moved into the kitchenette. Holding up the box of chocolate covered macadamia nuts she had purchased earlier, she told him, "But they did have these."

"This is Hawaii, after all," Steve reminded her and then opened a drawer as he searched for a corkscrew. Finding one, he asked, "Shall I do the honors?"

Harper hesitated for a moment and then realized that he was already in the room…what could a glass of wine really hurt. One glass. With a sigh, she walked past him and said, "I'll change."

"Not on my account, I hope," he said, glancing up from the bottle of wine just in time to get a glimpse of those long, shapely legs of hers peeking out from under the short bathrobe as she disappeared into the bathroom. By the time she returned, clad simply in a pair of cropped gray yoga pants and a baby blue tank top, he had the wine poured and set out on the table in the living area and was already helping himself to some chocolate.

"Well, this is cozy," she quipped, stepping over his legs, which he had propped up on the table, and taking the glass that he held out to her.

"Good?" he asked, watching her take a sip as she settled herself into a nearby chair.

"Nothing like a good, dry white wine at the end of a monster day," she remarked, savoring the fruity taste on her tongue before adding, "And I'm not even going to ask how you managed to get it here perfectly chilled. Must be something you learned how to do in S.E.A.L. school."

"Yes, it was," he retorted, refraining from admitting that he kept a few bottles chilled at the house but never had the heart to drink them with anyone but her, "because after Combat Swimming and Close Quarters Combat Training, Wine Chilling was the next popular course."

"Well, Navy guys are definitely classy," she shot back, playing along with him and allowing herself to relax.

After a moment, Steve remarked, "You seem different."

"Taller?" she joked, "Hotter?"

"Older," he said without thinking and grimaced at how that must have sounded.

"Ouch," the redhead exclaimed, but then decided to let him off the hook by saying, "Well it's been... almost seven years. We're not kids anymore."

He nodded and then asked seriously, "You still beating yourself up over those girls in San Diego?"

God, he knew her so well. But instead of admitting to it, Harper took another sip of her wine before she replied, "Not as much as I used to."

"Still drinking?"

And now she was annoyed. Holding her wine glass up in a mock toast to him, she drawled sarcastically, "Not as much as I used to." As she watched him watch her, she asked, "You worried about me, Stevie? Is that what this little visit is all about?"

"No…"

"Because you weren't exactly my safe port in the storm last time, were you? So I really don't need you to try and overcompensate by…" Harper let her voice trail off as she shook her head. Feeling the anger rising up within her, she took a deep breath and said, "Look, I don't want to do this with you right now. A lot has happened since you left. And I want to fill you in but... I don't know if I feel comfortable doing that yet."

"Right," he agreed with a nod of his head, "You're still mad."

"No, it's not even that anymore," she confessed, leaning her head back against the chair, "But when you left and you just disappeared, it was a kick in the gut for me. And I carried that around for a long time." Unshed tears singed the back of her eyes and she had to keep biting down on her bottom lip to hold them back while also reminding herself that she did not cry; she did not come apart for anyone. Not anymore. Certainly not for Steve, of all people. Trying to control the emotion in her voice, she added quietly, "You were the last person that I wanted to see again...ever. But at the same time, you were the only person that I wanted to see again."

"I know," was his quiet response. And for some reason, she wanted to believe that he did know. Harper wanted to believe that his decision to leave her was the hardest he had ever made in his life. Setting down his wine glass on the table, he sat on the edge of the couch as he turned to face her and said, "Listen, you asked me a question today and then stormed out before I got a chance to answer. I have an answer. I actually had one at the time. That's why I came here. Do you want to hear it?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Yes."

Harper searched his handsomely familiar face for some kind of sign as to what he was going to say, but to her dismay she couldn't find anything. So, letting out a deep breath and preparing herself for whatever was to come, she quietly answered, "Fine. Answer."

"Do you remember the weekend of your friend Julie's wedding…the one in Sonoma?"

_How could I forget that weekend?_ she thought, but simply nodded her head in response.

"And we were at the reception in the middle of this vineyard with that couple…" he reminded her, "The ones with the baby…"

"Mike and Sarah," she provided.

"Yeah, Mike and Sarah. And Allison was the baby, right?" He looked to her for confirmation and she nodded again, wondering where this was going. Quickly, he continued, "Well at some point during the wedding, you were holding baby Allison and I was hanging out with some of the guys by the bar. And for some reason, you turned to look at me and you smiled. And I knew, in that moment, that I was looking at my future."

He paused and Harper blinked quickly, surprised by his words as he went on, "You, holding that baby, smiling at me like I was the only guy in the room…it took my breath away. I've never felt that way before…I've never felt that way since. I loved that feeling. I loved you. And that's why I married you."

He took a deep breath and paused to let that sink in for a moment before he said softly, "Somewhere along the way, we lost that. And I know I let you down. But it was never my intention to make you feel like you weren't enough for me." Reaching out instinctively and taking her smaller hands in his larger ones, Steve added, "You were everything. And I'm sorry if my leaving made you feel that you weren't. I'm so sorry."

Harper's eyes filled with tears and she had to pull her hands away from his and look away. She had promised herself that if she ever saw him again that she wouldn't come undone. Not at all. But then again, she hadn't planned on seeing him for a good twenty years at least. But he was here now and he was looking at her with such guilt and genuine devastation in his eyes. Where did that come from?

"I can't do this right now," she whispered, standing up and moving away from the couch, away from the wine, away from him. "This conversation…I can't…"

"I know," Steve replied, standing up and moving towards the door. "I just didn't want you to go on thinking that it didn't mean anything to me. Because it did. It meant everything."

She had moved over to the windows and was gazing out at the beach, refusing to look at him, so he silently moved over to the kitchenette and put a new phone down on the counter saying, "I had Kono pre-program this with all of our numbers and other information you're going to need, so keep this handy at all times."

Still she wouldn't turn to look at him, so Steve opened the door and before he left he told her, "Get some sleep. I'll call you tomorrow."


	8. When Steve Met Harper

**Chapter Eight – When Steve Met Harper**

_"To love someone deeply gives you strength. Being loved by someone deeply gives you courage." _ ~ Lao-Tzu

_Honolulu Police Station, the next morning…_

"Are we interrupting something, detective?"

Harper looked up over her shoulder from the floor of the Honolulu Police Station's interview room to see Steve, Danny, Chin, and Kono come into the room.

"Detective Chin," the redhead greeted them with a smile, "so nice to see you again." Looking around at the rest of the group, she nodded and said, "Kono. Steven." And then to Danny, "How ya doin, Jersey?"

"Quite well, Shi- cah -go," Danny shot back with a goofy grin.

"Oh God," Steve muttered, "I don't think I can take them as friends." Then looking at Harper, he asked, "How is it that you're the first one here?"

"You gave me a phone," she reminded him, "I got a call, rented a car, and here I am. The miracles of modern technology are truly amazing."

"You haven't seen anything yet," Kono informed her, walking around the table to see what it was that Harper was looking at, "Wait until you see some of the toys we've got back at the offices."

"Ooh, toys," Harper repeated, her eyes lighting up, "The perks of being vigilantes."

"We're not vigilantes, we're a task force," Steve informed her sharply, shaking his head. She was starting already. Scrutinizing her face, he asked suddenly, "How much sleep did you get?"

"We're standing in the room where a cop killer was murdered and this crime scene happens to be in the middle of the local police department," Harper reminded her ex, trying to ignore his scrutiny, "That's really the first question you want to ask me?"

"How much?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked at her.

"Enough."

"So…none," Steve deduced, narrowing his eyes at her while the rest of the team looked on with interest.

"I was left behind here to work. So let's work," Harper said, glancing up at the camera situated in the corner of the room. Looking at the HPD officer who had accompanied her into the room, she asked, "Was that that only camera in the room yesterday?"

The officer nodded as Danny reminded her, "Which you shut off at the end of your interview."

"Yeah," she grimaced, "not anticipating that a cop killer would be murdered in the interrogation room of a police station while surrounded by cops was not my brightest move."

But Steve was still stuck on the issue of her lack of sleep and said cooly, "You've been running on adrenaline since arriving in Hawaii. If you keep this up, you're going to drop by the end of the day…"

Harper gave him a strange look and then quipped, "Thanks for the diagnosis, Super S.E.A.L. Now, can we get back to the business of finding out who killed Kai Akino under our noses?"

More than willing to oblige, Chin stepped forward and asked, "Have you spoken to the officer standing guard outside the interview room yet?"

"He's next door," she informed him, nodding her head toward the station's second interview room.

"Kono and I will take a crack at him, boss," the Hawaiian detective said, leaving the room.

Harper looked incredulously at Steve and asked, "You make them call you '_boss'_?"

"I don't make them call me-…"

"I'm not calling you '_boss'_," Harper informed him matter of factly.

Drawing in a deep breath, he asked, "Fine, what do you want to call me?" When Harper shot a knowing look in his direction, he held up his hands in surrender and added, "Okay, scratch that. I don't wanna know. Just as long as it's not Super S.E.A.L." Coming over to see what she was looking at on the floor when they came in, Steve asked, "What did you find down there?"

"Powdery substance," she replied, slipping back into work mode as quickly as he did, "Kono said that when she came into the room, Akino was foaming at the mouth and convulsing…like he was having a seizure. That could be drug induced…heroine, ecstasy."

"Or something else," Danny remarked, looking at the substance they were examining, "I'm doubting it was suicide, so it probably wasn't self induced. And it had to work fast…you two were barely out of the room before they came in to transfer him."

"Do you think somebody from his own gang tried to take him out?" Harper asked.

"Or someone working for Wo Fat," Steve deduced, "Someone inside the Honolulu PD."

"Wo Fat got someone to take him out that fast?" the redhead asked, looking from Danny to Steve and then back again, "He only gave up the fact that Wo Fat ordered the hit on Sammy moments before he was killed."

"Unless the orders were to take out Akino the moment he became a liability," Danny surmised, "And the moment you arrested him, he became a liability."

Steve's phone rang and he moved to answer it as Danny and Harper continued to discuss the options. When he hung up, Steve looked at his ex-wife and said, "You have to go."

"Go where?"

"Down to the Governor's office," he informed her, "Sign paperwork, all that good stuff."

"Great," she drawled, heading out the door with Danny and Steve on her heels, "What a productive way to spend a morning."

"Do you want one of us to drive you?"

"No thanks," Harper replied as Chin and Kono came up to them in the bullpen, "No sense in more than one of us having to waste their time. I'll meet you back at the offices."

She gave a little wave and was out the door before anyone could say anything else. When Steve turned around, he found his team watching him and asked, "What?"

"So we're just going to pretend that this isn't the slightest bit weird?" Danny asked, shoving his hands in his pockets and rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. Shaking his head, he added, "Nope, not gonna happen. Spill it."

"Spill what?"

"You know what," Kono told him, coming up on his left side. "We want details. Not too many details, but enough to let us know what we're getting into."

"There is no way for me to get out of this?" Steve asked, turning toward Chin who was usually the most level headed of the group.

But even Chin simply shrugged and said, "If she weren't an integral part of this case, I'd let it go. But…"

"Okay, okay, I know when I am outnumbered," Steve agreed reluctantly, sitting on the edge of one of the desks in the empty police bullpen, "I told you that she is the daughter of Mickey James, right?" When they all nodded, he continued, "Well, Mickey was not always the Police Superintendent for the city of Chicago. He started out as a beat cop, worked his way up through Narcotics and Homicide, and then became a captain of the Organized Crime Division. He was a cop's cop who did not play politics and was as hard edged as they come. And in a city like Chicago those two things are going to make you some enemies. Dangerous enemies. And there is nothing that a smart enemy likes more than a cop who happens to have a beautiful daughter."

"A beautiful daughter who seems pretty capable of taking care of herself," Kono interrupted.

"Doesn't matter," Danny told her, "He a father first and when someone threatens your kid, everything else goes out the window."

"Exactly," Steve agreed, "Plus, Mickey's wife, Harper's mother, was killed because of his dedication to the job and so Mickey wasn't taking any chances on losing the only woman left in his life. He happened to be friends with my SEAL Commander at the time and I had just come back from my first mission in Afghanistan after 9/11, so…"

"So you were contracted out to babysit Harper James," Chin concluded.

"That is where our story begins…" Steve said, nodding at Chin in affirmation.

"This might just be me, but I don't see Harper reacting well to having a bodyguard," Danny guessed with a grin.

"That is the understatement of the century, Danno," Steve confirmed with a grimace, "She was a rookie at the time and out to prove to the entire Chicago Police Department that there was more to her than just a big name and a pretty face. And there was no way that she was going to get off the street or go into hiding, so her father told her that it was protection or nothing at all." He smirked at the memory and told them, "She was pissed. Pissed at her father, pissed at me, pissed at the situation. But I had my orders…keep my eye on her at all times."

"How did you manage to pull that off?"

"Being the Police Superintendent is a family business for the James' men and Mickey's dad, Frank, was in charge at the time," Steve informed them, "He did a little fancy maneuvering and I ended up posing as her partner at work and her lover everywhere else."

"I bet she was thrilled with the idea that people thought she was sleeping with her partner," Kono said, making a face at the situation and feeling sorry for the position that Harper must have been in. But then she gave her boss a look and asked coyly, "And then the charade spilled over into real life?"

"Hey, I'm only human," Steve replied, grinning like an idiot and causing Kono to roll her eyes at the 'boys will be boys' behavior of her co-workers. Catching her, he explained, "Look, we spent every hour of every day together for five months. Things happen. Plus, she was dead set on proving to her father that she didn't need his protection, so she worked the case of this guy who was threatening them. We both did. That's when I found out what a fantastic cop she is. And damn it if she didn't nail him. It was a huge bust…for her career and my ego."

"So you celebrated by getting married?" Chin asked skeptically.

"No, we celebrated by taking a much needed vacation in Mexico," Steve corrected him and then added sheepishly, "Where…we ended up getting married." He let out a long sigh and admitted, "It seemed right at the time."

"How did Big Daddy react to that?" Danny wanted to know.

"Not well," his partner answered with a grimace.

"I would say not," Danny agreed as the father in him said, "He hired you to protect her and you married her instead?"

"It gets worse," Steve informed them before adding, "I was stationed at the Naval Amphibious Base at Coronado when my mission in Chicago was over, so she moved there with me and joined the San Diego Police Department."

"She left Chicago PD for you?" Kono asked in surprise. It shouldn't have come as such a shock to her since she knew that S.E.A.L.S. were stationed in either Virginia Beach or San Diego…not Chicago. But she didn't put it together that Harper had left her job and her family to marry Steve.

"It was her choice," he replied with a shrug, trying to make it seem like less of deal than it actually was, "She said she could be a cop anywhere. But after that, I wasn't invited to any family get togethers."

"Okay," Chin said, more interested in this story than he had thought he would be, "that explains how she became your wife. How did she become your ex-wife?"

Steve drew in a deep breath and contemplated how much he should tell them. It really wasn't any of their business, but they did have to work in the middle of this mess so it was fair of them to want to know. But this was the part of the story he was dreading telling. So he decided to keep it simple by saying, "It's not easy to be married to a S.E.A.L., okay?" Even for someone as independent as Jimmy. I left for Iraq right after we got married and was gone for a long time. And then when I came back, I was always getting called away on different missions, couldn't tell her where I was, would leave at a moment's notice…" he sighed and finished, "We were moving in two different directions and we hit a rough spot. So…"

"So you skipped town and served her with divorce papers?" Danny surmised, mimicking Harper's words from the previous day.

Not wanting to get into the details, Steve nodded and answered coolly, "It's more complicated than that…but, yeah."

And that was it. It was all he was going to say and they knew it. But Steve could tell from the looks on their faces that they knew he wasn't telling them everything. And they were right…there was more to the story. Much more. More than even Harper knew. But for her sake, Steve was going to have to make sure she never found out.


	9. When Harper Met Catherine

_**falling into heaven - Wow, thank you for the review. Your insight is great. In fact, you even touched on one of my main story ideas that has not played out yet but I won't tell you which one! I appreciate the thoughtful and complimentary review, Anna!**_

_**Dear Readers, I do like my secrets and from reading your reviews, you like them too! And the secret Steve is keeping is nothing compared to the secret that will come out as the story plays out! But not in this chapter...sorry to be such a tease! I debated about whether to have Catherine in this fic because I sort of like the character and didn't want to have to turn her into a cliched "other woman" type character. But hopefully I have brainstormed a way for her to play a role and this won't be the last you see of her in this fic...**_

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><p><strong>Chapter Nine – When Harper Met Catherine<strong>

"_Jealousy is always born with love, but does not always die with it." _

~ François Duc de La Rochefoucauld

_Hawaii 5-0 Headquarters, later that afternoon…_

"You're right, Kono, these are pretty cool toys," Harper admitted, as she watched in awe while the rookie maneuvered through all of the case files that the Chicago PD had sent to the 5-0 team, but then she winked and added, "although I just don't think that anything can beat having chalk dust under my fingernails or the smell of moldy case files in the morning. Can you pull up that Wilson Crips pyramid of power?"

Kono chuckled at the detective's choice of words as she touched a few buttons on the screen and the hierarchy for Kai Akino's gang appeared on the big screen. Examining it closely, Harper said, "So this Michael Sugimoto was Kai Akino's second in command. We have video footage of the two of them in Chicago on the night that Sammy Norval was killed."

Checking his watch, Chin Ho stated, "And since Akino has been dead for about 20 hours now, it's probably a good bet to assume that Sugimoto is now in charge of the Crips."

"If Akino was working for Wo Fat, the chances are pretty high that he's got Sugimoto in his pocket as well," Danny reasoned.

"So that's where we start," Harper stated matter of factly, "Do we have a local address for this character?"

"An address?" Danny asked, looking at her as if she were a crazy person, "What are we going to do…just walk up and ask him if he's on Wo Fat's payroll?"

"Have you tried it?" Harper challenged him smugly, "Sometimes the simplest solution is the one to go with."

"The simplest solution?" Danny repeated, "What makes you think that a gang leader would cooperate with us?"

"Well, I'm gonna ask him really, really nicely, Jersey," she shot back sarcastically.

Crossing his arms and glaring at her, Danny said, "I'm reading this book about getting along with your co-workers that my daughter gave me. It says that sarcasm is never helpful. I can lend it to you if you want."

Harper could barely contain her smirk and was about to match him sarcastic comment for sarcastic comment when Steve walked into the bullpen and barely glanced at the screen as he asked, "So where are we?"

"Well, your ex-wife is ready to take down the new head of the Wilson Crips using only her quick wit and charming personality," Danny informed his partner, winking at the Chicago detective.

"She's done more with less," Steve answered distractedly, apparently not getting the joke that Danny was throwing out there. Taking a moment to look at the screen, he turned to Kono and asked, "Where are the files we put together on the guys at HPD? We need to find out which officers were involved with the investigations into the Yakuza."

"So you're not even going to look into the Wilson Crips connection?" Harper questioned him, narrowing her eyes at Steve.

"No one from the Wilson Crips committed murder in the HPD interview room," he reminded her sharply.

"Yes, but this Sugimoto guy was in Chicago with Akino," Harper challenged him, never one to back down from a fight, "so if the order for the hit came from Wo Fat, he was probably involved somehow. And he will be easier to crack than a cop."

"I disagree," Steve replied stubbornly, shaking his head.

"Look, if a cop did this, I hope he goes away for a very long time because he disgraced the badge we both wear," the redhead rationalized, "but if you're wrong about this and you go after cops…"

"If I'm wrong, I'll go to the grand jury and say I killed Samuel Norval myself," her ex interrupted smugly, not liking the fact that she was arguing with him in front of the team.

"Well that's very noble of you, but it's not going to solve the problem in front of us at this moment," she shot back, knowing that he was already digging in and she didn't have much of a chance of getting him to change his mind. But that wasn't going to stop her, especially since he was wrong.

"Which is?"

"Evidence!" Harper snapped, "And the fact that you have none!"

"And you do?"

"No," she admitted quickly, "but going up against a gang banger with no evidence is drastically different than taking on the cops. You can't just waltz into the bullpen at HPD and start throwing your weight around."

"No?" he asked, raising his eyebrow at her and letting everyone in the room know that was exactly what he planned to do.

"Look Steven, I know you think you are untouchable because you and the governor are special pals and I'm sure everyone finds that really freakin' adorable," Harper spat out as her voice dripped with equal parts anger and sarcasm, "but you are not the sole law enforcement agent on this island. And one day you are going to need the cops to back you up, but if you go marching into their office and accuse them of being on a crime bosses' payroll…well, you can just forget about any protection whatsoever. Cops' memories are long and we don't forget when someone accuses us of being on the same level as scum like Wo Fat. And that puts the lives of every single member of your team in danger, so who's not looking at the big picture now?"

The tension was crackling in the room, but no one had a chance to say anything because at that moment Analyst Jenna Kaye walked in and, having no idea what she had just waltzed into the middle of, said to Harper, "Detective James, your brother Frankie is on line two…"

"Why is he calling me here?" she snapped, grabbing her phone from her hip to see if he had tried to call her cell phone and she had missed his call.

"Probably because you have a new phone," Kono reminded her quietly, "and he may not have the number."

Realizing her mistake, Harper ran her hands through her hair in exasperation and told Jenna, "Oh God, I can't deal with him right now…tell him I'm in a meeting."

"I did." Jenna replied, looking at the detective sheepishly.

"And?"

"And he said I should be replaced," the analyst answered quietly.

"Geez Frankie," Harper muttered, following Jenna out into the reception area of the office as she apologized for her brother's manners.

After Harper's abrupt departure, Steve looked around the room at his team and his eyes stopped on Chin, although the look in his eyes matched everyone else's.

"She's right," Chin Ho informed his boss with a simple nod of his head.

"She usually is," Steve admitted with a grimace and then added, "That's what makes her so damn irritating." He took a long moment to stare at the faces of the Wilson Crips on the screen and then swpre under his breath before saying, "I'll go get her."

Shaking his head as he watched his partner go fetch his ex-wife from the reception area, Danny remarked to Kono and Chin Ho, "I never thought I'd meet anyone as hard headed as Steven and then along came the ex. How did these two ever get it together long enough to get married?"

"Come on," Kono told him with a smirk, "Can you see it? Behind all that fighting, there's undeniable passion there. Even after all these years…"

As Steve pushed open the glass doors to the reception area, the elevator doors also opened simultaneously and a striking dark haired woman disembarked.

"Cat," Steve exclaimed, stopping short and looking from his girlfriend to his ex-wife and then back again, "What are you doing here?"

"Dinner?" Catherine reminded him, gesturing down toward the little black dress and designer heels she was wearing as she added, "I've been waiting at the restaurant for over an hour."

"Oh man," he said, checking his watch, "I got wrapped up in this case…"

"Surprise, surprise," she chuckled and then turned to Harper, who had set down the phone and was watching the scene with interest, as she said curiously, "Hi."

"Hi," Harper replied, stepping forward and extending her hand, "I'm Detective Harper James, Chicago PD."

"Lt. Catherine Rollins of the USS Enterprise," Catherine returned the greeting with a smile and remarked, "Chicago PD? You're a long way from home."

Harper refused to meet her ex-husband's gaze but could feel him staring at her from over the other woman's shoulder as she replied, "I'm on a case. My partner was murdered by a local gang banger, so the Commander and his team are helping me out."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," the lieutenant answered with a frown and then turned to Steve, "Dinner can wait. I mean, you obviously have more important things to…"

"No, no, you two go ahead," Harper answered before Steve had a chance to open his mouth, "It seems we've run into a brick wall anyway. And I should go home and get some sleep."

"Are you sure…?" Catherine asked slowly, looking to Steve for confirmation.

"No…I mean yeah," the Commander finally managed to say, stumbling over his words, "let's go to dinner. We can pick this up in the morning. Why don't you wait for me down in the lobby while I get changed and then we'll get out of here."

"It was nice to meet you, detective," Catherine said with a warm smile, "but I'm sorry about the circumstances."

"Me, too," Harper said quietly, before she turned and walked down the hallway toward Steve's office. Before she knew it, he had caught up and was walking in step next to her. Without looking over at him, she surmised, "I take it that Lt. Rollins isn't aware that you were married?"

"It hasn't come up," he replied, looking straight ahead. "And I'm sure you don't tell everyone you meet that…"

"Oh give it a rest, Steven," Harper interrupted, "It's pretty easy to be anonymous in a city the size of Chicago, unless your name happens to be James. And the Police Department is like an incestuous, small town…everyone knows everything about everyone. So it's pretty common knowledge that I ran off with the babysitter about ten years ago."

Steve flinched at the hard edge in her voice before he quietly agreed, "Yeah."

They finished their walk to his office in silence, so Steve was a little surprised when she followed him into his office instead of continuing on into the bullpen. Flopping down on the couch, Harper said coolly, "She's nice…"

"Jimmy…" he warned, dropping a file down on his desk and turning to look at her.

"Cute," she added, "Great legs."

"Don't."

"Don't what?" she asked, looking up at him innocently.

"Don't…do that," Steve answered, sighing as he sank into his desk chair and explained, "That passive aggressive thing you do."

"Aggressive I've heard before," Harper answered with a shrug, "Passive is new."

"Look, I'm with Catherine now and I'm sorry if that is weird for you…"

"I just said she was nice!" she reminded him.

"And cute. And had great legs," he repeated, "I heard you."

"And young."

"Jimmy…"

"And a lieutenant," she continued, ignoring the warning edge to his voice, "I think you have found the perfect combination of…"

"And this is why I said, "Don't Start'," he sighed, glancing up to the ceiling and rolling his eyes at the situation. He should have known the two women would meet eventually, but he wasn't ready for it to happen on Harper's second day here. They hadn't even worked out their past situation before having to dive head first into his current one.

"Is it serious between you?" Harper asked suddenly, doing a good job of masking the vulnerability in her voice.

"Serious as a heart attack," Steve lied before he realized what he was saying. Was he trying to hurt her without even realizing it?

She nodded and mused, "Heart attacks are very serious."

"Yes, they are," he replied inanely, keeping up this strange charade, "Very serious." And then after a few moments of silence, he asked, "Did you really expect I would never move on? I mean, it's been seven years and I'm not a monk…"

"I know," she snapped, "Of course you've moved on. I've moved on, too. A lot. Yes, I have definitely done my fair share of moving on."

"Please spare me the details," Steve told her, visions of her with nameless and faceless men suddenly causing him to frown.

"If you insist," his ex-wife answered, getting up and heading toward the door, "Have fun on your date."

And she had almost made it out of the office when he said, "You know, when you act like you don't want to talk to me, it just makes me want to talk to you even more."

Turning back to face him, Harper rolled her eyes at him and stated, "That may be the world's most annoying personality trait." She paused and was about to turn to leave when she added, "The not talking when we were married, that's totally different than the not talking now."

"It is?"

"I avoided the talks back then because, according to my friends, I... I didn't know how to be in love with you," she explained in a matter of fact tone.

"And now?"

" Well, now I..." Harper stumbled on her words but managed to keep her composure intact as she said, "I'm not in love with you now, so there's simply no need. To talk, that is."

If she had meant for the admission to hurt, mission accomplished. But Steve also managed to keep his emotions from showing as he replied, "Well, as long as that's cleared up…I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah," she said, opening the door to his office again, "See you tomorrow."


	10. Common Ground

_**I'm so glad everyone continues to enjoy this ride I am taking you on! And I'm glad you like the fact that I brought Catherine into the fic…Kajal, I promise to try and treat her fairly! **_

_**Anna, did you sneak a copy of my outline? Because some of your insight is just too scary! Here is your Danny/Harper chapter! I was going to have it be a Kono/Harper chapter because I adore including a good "girlfriends" chapter in my fics…but I decided that Danny was going to work better for my needs. Plus, I just think Danny has so much more personality than Kono…I hope the show changes that soon! **_

_**So, here is a little more Steve/Harper backstory and some Harper backstory. But be careful believing everything Harper says in this chapter because she is going to learn a thing or two about her own past in the next chapter! Hold on tight gang, we're almost to the first big reveal…**_

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><p><strong>Chapter Ten – Common Ground<strong>

"_Divorce is the psychological equivalent of a triple coronary by-pass. After such a monumental assault on the heart, it takes years to amend all the habits and attitudes that led up to it."_

~ Mary Kay Blakely

_Hotel Bar, a few hours later..._

"A beautiful woman sitting alone at a bar is one of my favorite sights."

Harper instantly recognized one of the new voices in her life and smiled as Detective Danny Williams sat on the barstool next to her. She had returned to her hotel, as she had told the 5-0 team that she would, but had only managed to make it to the bar area.

"Pink fruity drinks?" he scoffed, glancing at the ridiculously sweet concoction in her glass before signaling the bartender for a beer.

"Don't judge," she answered defensively, "Rum goes down much easier when it is mixed with fruit and obnoxious colored liqueur."

"You just didn't strike me as a girly drink kinda woman," he replied, looking around the room, "Or the drinking alone in a hotel bar kind woman, for that matter."

"Well, you obviously don't know that much about me then."

"That is correct," Danny said, taking a swig of the beer that suddenly appeared in front of him, "But one thing I do know is that you have had one hell of a week and the fact that you are not so intoxicated that you are falling off this barstool is a credit to your sense of self control."

"Thanks…I think," she drawled and then asked, "What are you doing here?"

"The first time I saw my ex playing kissy-face with her new husband, I ended up in a joint like this," he informed her casually, "although you don't get too many little paper umbrellas in the middle of Jersey."

Harper grinned and nodded before she said, "Thank you for coming to check up on me. But I know your loyalty is to Steve, so you don't really have to be nice to me."

"Steve is my partner," Danny agreed, "but until you arrived on the island, I had no idea he was ever married. Besides, you're not that hard to be nice to. Although the color of that girly drink may give me a headache after awhile."

"You ain't seen nothing yet," Harper informed him with a wicked smile, "they have a melon drink here that compares to the neon green color of that slime you skim off the top of a pond."

"Mmmm, yummy," he grimaced, taking another swig of his beer.

"Don't knock it till you've tried it," she retorted, "Besides, my drink choice is basically the only girly thing about me these days.

"Well, I wouldn't say that…"

Giving him a little shove with her shoulder, she laughed and said, "Don't be a perv."

"Well, don't give me that kind of opening!" he informed her joining in on the laughter, "You don't understand the intricacies of the male mind…"

"Oh no?" Harper smirked, "Explain it to me, I've got a minute."

This time it was Danny's turn to smirk as he turned to look at her and said, "You're a little bit crazy, you know that?"

"So I've been told."

"I like that."

She didn't know why the Danny Williams seal of approval suddenly meant so much to her, but for some reason it did so she smiled and joked, "Don't worry…it happens to the best of 'em."

They sat in comfortable silence for a little while longer before Harper blurt out, "Two years."

"Two years what?" he asked in confusion.

"Steve and I were married for two years," she explained, "but if you add up all the time we spent together in the same city, it was more like eight months."

"I didn't ask," he informed her smoothly, trying to hide the grin.

"Yeah, I know," she drawled, "And it was killing you, wasn't it?"

"Little bit," he answered, finally letting the grin spread across his face.

"What about you?" she asked, after taking a sip of her martini, "How long did your marriage last?"

"Longer than yours," Danny stated dryly, "We made it to the five year mark, but not much farther than that."

"And she's remarried?"

"To a millionaire Ken Doll, who moved her and my daughter, Grace, to Hawaii," he told her bitterly, "causing me to have to move to this God forsaken island to be near my kid."

"You moved all the way to Hawaii for your daughter?" she asked in surprise, "Wow."

"You moved to San Diego for Steve," Danny pointed out.

"Touché," Harper conceded and held up her glass in a mock toast to him. He held up his bottle to clink her glass and they both sipped their respective drinks before she asked, 'Do you know the most surprising thing about divorce?" When he shook his head in answer to her question, she told him, "It doesn't actually kill you. I mean, like a bullet to the heart or a head-on car wreck it should kill you dead. When someone you've promised to cherish till death do you part says 'I don't love you anymore,' it should kill you instantly. You shouldn't have to wake up day after day after that, trying to understand how in the world you had managed to screw everything up so completely."

"He told you that he didn't love you anymore?"

"Right before he walked out the door," she admitted, unable to look Danny in the eye anymore so she looked down at her drink. "It was humiliating. I just stood there and watched him go. My damn pride didn't even let me run after him. Although I probably should have been expecting it."

"Why is that?"

"It's been so easy for me to blame Steve for ending our marriage because he was the one who walked away," Harper explained with sadness in her voice, "But the truth is that while he was the one who walked out the door, I'm the one who flung it open for him."

There. She had finally said it out loud. To this virtual stranger sitting next to her on a barstool in Hawaii. She thought that it would have been harder to admit, but it turned out to be pretty easy. Yet she still couldn't bring herself to admit it to the person who really needed to hear it...her ex-husband.

Danny didn't ask the question that hung in the air between them and she gave him credit for that, so she decided to reward him by telling him the whole sordid story.

"I'm not good at the whole damsel in distress thing," Harper confessed, causing Danny to smirk and raise his eyebrow at her as she continued, "I was raised by a tough Chicago cop…it's not a role I was ever taught to play. I was taught to handle anything life throws at me and to never flinch. My dad taught me to be tough, strong, and independent and I learned my lessons well. I wasn't like other girls." The detective couldn't keep the emotion out of her voice as she added, "That's what I thought Steve liked about me. It's what I thought he loved about me."

"Well, he married you," Danny pointed out, "so I don't think you were wrong."

"And then he divorced me," she reminded him and then went on, "Did you ever that one case? The one that kept you up at night…the one that invaded your dreams and haunted your every waking moment?"

Danny nodded somberly, knowing exactly what she was talking about. Every cop had one. And they could ruin everything.

"Mine came in San Diego," Harper told him, pausing to take another sip of her liquid courage before saying, "Serial rapist and murderer. Southern California had never seen anything like it. He abducted five young women, raped them, murdered them, and left their bodies all over the city before we finally caught up with him…"

"That's where I know you from!" Danny said suddenly, interrupting her story, "The 'Crazy Joe' Prisco case. You caught 'Crazy Joe'!"

She nodded in confirmation as she said, "One of the biggest busts of my career. But what didn't make the six o'clock news was that while on that case I broke the first rule of being a cop…I let it get personal. I let it consume me. Day and night I worked on that case and nothing else mattered. I knew those girls' names, memorized their faces, could recite any known fact about their career or personal lives. I'm the one who had a relationship with their families…the one they called in the middle of the night when they heard that another dead girl had been found somewhere in the city and they wanted to make sure it was not their child."

"They were young, successful women at the top of their game," Danny recited, recalling what he could remember about the victims of the case and then said instinctively, "You saw yourself in them, didn't you?"

Harper let out a heartless little laugh as she asked, "Why is it you're the first person to ever understand that?" Danny looked at her for a long time before covering her hand with his, encouraging her to continue her story, "I just…it was the first time that I wasn't tough, that I couldn't handle what life threw at me. And Steve didn't know what to do. We were like two strangers living in the same house. We grew so far apart in such a short amount of time."

She shook her head and ordered another drink from the bartender before she said, "I don't do the _'screaming, crying, temper tantrum'_ thing when I get upset. I was raised by men, so I do the _'shut down and focus on my work'_ kind of thing. And the _'drink till it doesn't hurt anymore'_ thing. So I pushed him away…I shut down. Completely. But Steve does the same thing, so when I pushed him away…I thought he would push back. Call me on my crap like he always did. But he didn't. He let me push him away until he couldn't take it anymore. And then he left."

"Left?"

"He got promoted to Commander of S.E.A.L. Team Two out of Virginia Beach," she explained unhappily, "And it was an offer he couldn't refuse. A promotion and his own platoon was better than a wife who could barely look at him anymore. So, he took it. And then a few months later, I got served with divorce papers. No phone call, no last chance to talk it out. Just an envelope of documents from my husband's legal representation telling me that my marriage was over."

Danny shifted on his barstool and took a moment to digest this information before saying, "I know that Steve is lacking in certain inalienable social skills, but I gotta tell you…that doesn't sound like him at all."

"Shocked the hell out of me, too," Harper agreed, "Because up until we hit that rough patch, we lit the world on fire. My marriage to Steve didn't last long, but when it was good he made me feel like this whole world, this whole big beautiful world, was lucky to have me…little me. Some trick, huh?"

Taking a sip of the fresh drink the bartender put in front of her, Harper confessed, "Until he came along, I was just Mickey James' pretty little girl. You could look, but don't touch. My brothers made sure of that. It's how men always saw me. I wasn't the smart girl or the interesting girl, I was the pretty girl. It's the red hair thing and the boobs thing…big boobs are a key to 'obvious pretty' if you know what I'm saying."

Danny choked on his sip of beer and gave her his patented "_You're crazy_" look as she continued with a smile, "I grew up surrounded by men, so you were wrong earlier when you thought that I don't know how they think. I know exactly how you think." She grinned and winked at him, causing him to chuckle as she continued, "Anyway, then Steve goes and asks me to marry him. He never made me feel like I was just a pretty girl. He made me feel like… like me. I think he just knew me…the good, the bad, the ugly…and he accepted it. In fact, I think he liked the fact that his girl could kick some ass. And then all of a sudden...it was over." She shook her head at the absurdity of it all and said, "After he left, I cried for a week. I cried for Steve, for me, for those girls and their families…I just curled up into a pathetic little ball in the corner of our bedroom and wept. Sometimes it hurts so much to remember. But, then again, I think it would hurt even worse to forget."

"And that's when you went back to Chicago?" Danny asked, making it sound more like an interview question than he intended it to be.

The redhead nodded in confirmation as she explained, "Word of my work on the 'Crazy Joe' case made it up to Chicago and the interim superintendent the Mayor had appointed when my grandfather retired thought it would be a big political score if he could be the one to entice Mickey James' little girl back to the Windy City."

The detective from Jersey just sat and drank his beer for a little while longer as his mind processed this story that he had just heard. Steve walking out on the love of his life when she needed him most? Leaving this tough, amazing woman crying like a baby in the corner of her bedroom? Two promotions that came at the perfect time? Something didn't add up.

Finally, he asked, "Let me ask you something that has been bugging me since we met…?"

"I'm not going to tell you where I hid the gun, Jersey," she joked, relieved that he had steered the conversation away from her sad marital woes.

"Why the hell would a woman like you become a cop?" Danny asked, shaking his head at her reference to their first meeting.

"A woman like me?"

"Well, we've already established that you're beautiful. And smart. And have family connections all over the place," he explained his reasoning, "You could have done anything in the world. Why crime fighting?"

"It's the family business."

"No, I think it's more than that," the intuitive detective told her, refusing to let her off the hook that easily, "Come on, I know you've got one more story in you…"

Taking a deep breath, Harper looked at him and said quietly, "When I was eight years old, my mother was gunned down right in front of me."

Whatever Danny had been expecting her to say, it hadn't been that. If he had been attempting to lighten the mood, he had blown it big time.

"The son of a bitch just left her there to die in the street…like a dog," she continued, unaware that she had just sent him reeling, "The guys in my dad's squad worked overtime to find my mother's murderer…followed every lead, leaned on all of their contacts, called in every favor anyone ever owed them. It went on for weeks…none of them slept, they barely ate, and no one ever complained. Because Mickey James was family to them and his children deserved justice. When they finally brought in a suspect, my dad's partner brought me down to the stationhouse and took me into a little room where I sat and positively identified the scumbag who had killed my mother. And when it was all over, he brought me out to the squad room to wait while my father had a 'few moments alone' with my mother's killer."

She smiled a wry smile and continued, "He told me how proud he was of me and bought me a Coke…which was a real treat back then…and gave me a donut and sat me behind his desk. And all these cops…these big, tough guys who I always thought of as larger than life…kept coming over to me to tell me how brave I was and how strong I was and how because of me the man who killed my father was going to spend the rest of his life in jail. And he wouldn't be able to hurt anyone else ever again. Because of me."

Smiling a genuine smile this time, she confessed, "That was night I decided that I wanted to become a cop. I wanted to be like my dad and the guys he worked with. I wanted to do what they did, I wanted to be who they were in the community. I wanted to serve the people of Chicago and all of mankind. I believe that this is my purpose in life and I was guided to that purpose in a unique way, by being the daughter of Mickey James."

Again, Danny was silent. He took a long slug of his beer before he put it down on the bar, turned to her, and asked, "You know something, Harper James? You're not so special."

"Oh no?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him and suspecting that something else was coming.

"Nope," he said with a shake of his head, "What happened to you in San Diegeo…we all go crazy at some point. Happens to every cop who gives a crap about what they do. That's why we're alcoholics. That's why our husbands and wives leave us. We're broken toys. But," he added with a grin, "what makes us different from those folks in the psych ward ... We keep each other sane. That's what it's about. Any decent precinct house ... We keep each other sane."

Harper raised her glass again, but this time it wasn't in a mock toast It was in a real one, asking, "You gonna keep me sane, Jersey?"

Clinking his glass with hers, he winked and promised, "If you return the favor."


	11. The Men Who Love Her Pt II

_**Some of you have figured it out already...I've always been terrible at keeping a secret. But I hope that you still enjoy the reveal.**_

_**P.S. - I'm not sure why I have seemingly turned Jenna Kaye into a secretary, but that is what I have done. Probably because I was not impressed with the character...**_

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><p><strong>Chapter 11 – The Men Who Love Her Part II<strong>

"_The thing people forget is how good it can feel when you finally set secrets free. Whether good or bad, at least they're out in the open, like it or not. And once your secrets are out in the open, you don't have to hide behind them anymore. But the problem with secrets is even when you think you're in control, you're not."_ ~ Shonda Rimes

_Commander McGarrett's office, the next afternoon..._

"Did you have a good date last night?"

"Hmmm?" Steve answered distractedly. He was trying to get through the mountains of paperwork that had piled up on his desk recently and there was nothing the ex-S.E.A.L. disliked more than paperwork. He had put it off as long as he could and was not going to get too much done with his partner chattering away in his ear.

"Your date?" Danny repeated, lounging on the leather sofa in the Commander's office as he perused some case files, "Dinner…and whatever else you do with Catherine?"

"Oh…yeah," Steve said, hunting through one of the piles for a form he had misplaced, "It was fine."

"Fine?" His partner mocked, glancing over at him, "You spent the evening with a beautiful woman in a little black dress who redirects military satellites for you. And you can't come up with a better adjective than _'fine'_?"

"It was…I just…" Steve fumbled over his words and finally sat back in his desk chair as he admitted, "I didn't tell her about Harper."

"Well, that's good," Danny advised, "Dating etiquette dictates that your ex-wife should not come up during pillow talk."

"She should when we are now working side by side everyday and Catherine is out in the middle of the Pacific," the Commander pointed out.

"No," Danny said with a shake of his head, "no, that is definitely not a good plan."

"Maybe advice like that is why you're divorced," Steve retorted sharply, knowing full well that he had just opened himself up and painted a target on his chest.

And Danny took the shot by saying, "At least I didn't walk out to take a job promotion."

Steve made what his partner lovingly referred to as aneurysm face and asked, "Harper told you that?"

"Yes," the detective replied quickly, sitting up and facing his partner, "because you see, unlike you, your ex-wife found me interesting and trustworthy."

"I wouldn't believe everything she says," Steve warned, going back to his paperwork and signaling that the conversation was over.

But Danny did not get the message as he asked, "Why not?"

"Because she doesn't know…" he stopped himself before he blurted out things that were none of Danny's business and simply said, "Just don't."

"So you tell me."

"Tell you what?"

Danny suddenly realized that talking to his partner was very similar to talking to his ex-wife as he sighed and said, "Tell me why you left."

"Why is this important to you?" Steve asked, putting his pen down and glaring at the detective.

"Because something doesn't add up…"

"My divorce is not a case for you to investigate," Steve interrupted in disgust, "You need to be finding out who killed Kai Akino and what the connection is to Wo Fat…"

But that was as far as he got since Jenna Kaye buzzed in at that moment and said, "Commander McGarrett, there's a video chat request from Superintendent Mickey James that just came in."

"Harper is not here," Steve told her, "She's out in the field with Chin and Kono."

"I know," Jenna replied efficiently, "He wants to talk to you."

Danny and Steve exchanged a confused look as he asked, "Me?"

"That's what he said," she told him, "Do you want me to send it to your office screen?"

"Yeah, go ahead," Steve said, flipping on the big screen monitor on the adjacent wall.

"And the mystery deepens," Danny teased, rubbing his hands together in anticipation of a showdown.

"We are investigating the death of a guy who killed one of his cops," Steve tried to explain, "It's not that unusual that he's calling…"

"He hates you," Danny blurted out with a smirk, "Why wouldn't he have his assistant talk to you instead of doing it himself?"

"Well, I hate you," Steve shot back sarcastically, "Unfortunately, I don't have an assistant to do my talking…"

"Well, he does!" Danny reminded him, "And yet he…"

"Is waiting, Commander."

Danny and Steve's heads both snapped around so fast it was almost comical. And when they did, the distinguished face of Police Superintendent Michelangelo "Mickey" James was set in granite as he stared at them.

"Superintendent," Steve greeted him, scrambling to stand up in front of the screen. Gesturing toward Danny, he introduced, "This is my partner, Detective Danny Williams."

"Detective," Mickey nodded in greeting.

"Superintendent," Danny nodded comically in reply as he said, "Big fan of your daughter's."

"That makes two of us," he replied, not cracking a smile.

An awkward silence settled over the office before Danny realized that he was in the middle of a private conversation. He began backing out of the room as he said, "Okay and speaking of two…he wants to talk to you. So, I should just leave." Getting to the door, he opened it and winked at Steve before he added, "Okay, nice to see you, Superintendent."

When he was gone, Steve crossed his arms over his chest and told Mickey, "Harper isn't here. She's out interviewing members of Kai Akino's gang…"

"Good," the Superintendent interrupted, "because I think we need to talk."

"About?"

"Don't play dumb, McGarrett," his former father in law said, obviously annoyed already, "You are not a stupid man."

"No, I'm not," Steve conceded, moving back behind his desk, "But I have made some pretty stupid choices."

"If you are speaking of the one you made seven years ago, I disagree."

"Why am I not surprised?" Steve asked with a heartless chuckle. Picking up a folder from his desk and pretending to look through it, he inquired, "What can I do for you, Superintendent?"

"I am calling to ensure my daughter's safety…"

"Harper can take care of herself," Steve interrupted.

"Yes, I know…"

"No, I don't think you do," Steve bit out, knowing that he was completely out of line and not caring one bit.

Hearing the edge in the Commander's voice, Mickey said tightly, "Say what you have to say, McGarrett."

"I was raised by a tough cop, too, Superintendent…"

"My condolences on the passing of your father, Commander."

That was unexpected. In fact, it was such an unexpected expression of sympathy that Steve almost couldn't finish his statement.

"Thank you," Steve said quietly, but then gained his composure as he continued, "Anyway, that was one thing Harper and I could always talk about. Our fathers and our relationships with them. But the difference between my father and you is that he didn't preach independence and then take back handed short cuts to undermine the independence he was fostering in us."

"I don't believe that is what I have done…"

"That is exactly what you have done."

Mickey James pursed his lips in anger and had to visibly calm himself down before he stated, "One day, Commander, you will know the joy of being a father…"

"I could be a lot closer to that goal if it weren't for you."

Silence. And, as they say, it was deafening.

Finally the Superintendent cleared his throat and continued, "But along with the joy of parenthood comes fear. The day my daughter was born, I cried like a child. Holding her, so small in my arms, I never knew I could love anything so much, so fast. I had the same sensations when my sons were born, but this was different. The need to protect her was animal-like. Primal. And part of me was terrified. Raising a daughter is more a matter of faith than most people know. Because I knew what kind of life she was destined for…a child born with her mother's beautiful face into a police legacy family. I did what I had to do."

Steve considered Harper's fathers heartfelt words before he asked, "But what about what she's had to do?"

"Meaning?"

"Harper has lived every day of her life trying to live up to your accomplishments, to your expectations," Steve explained, "She loves being a cop as much as you do…"

"Well, I wish that she didn't," Mickey interrupted with a tired sigh, "The day she announced she was going to the police academy scared the hell out of me. But I never talked her out of it, not once. I am not a man who bends, Commander, but I bent for her so that she could follow her dreams. Because she is my daughter…"

"But then you took every step possible to ensure that she would never be able to stand on her own…"

"I did not," Mickey shot back defensively, "Everything that she has accomplished has been on her own. I stood as far back as I could and let her do it her own. I never interfered until you came along."

"Do you even know her?" Steve asked, completely frustrated with a conversation that seemed to be going nowhere. They were two stubborn men and both believed that they were right. "Do you know what she is capable of?"

"Of course I do," her father replied sharply, "I know her better than anyone."

"No," Steve argued, trying to get him to understand, "you know the little girl whose universe revolves around seeing you smile or hearing you say how proud you are of her. But do you know her? Do you know what an amazing cop she is?"

"I am fully aware of her service record…"

"I'm not talking about her service record," the Commander corrected him, shaking his head as he came back around from behind his desk. He was fully engaged in the conversation now. "I'm talking about the cop…the instincts she's inherited from you. When I was with S.E.A.L.s, I was forced to put my life in other people's hands every day and ask them to put their lives in mine. I know immediately what kind of people I can trust and your daughter…" Steve got a little smirk on his face as he thought about his ex-wife, "Sir, she is tough and she is difficult and she's as hard headed as hell. But I wouldn't think twice about putting my life or my team's lives in her hands. She is strong, caring, honorable and she protects the things and the ones she loves with a ferocity like I've never seen before…she is exactly who you raised her to be."

"Yes, she is," Mickey agreed, not missing the undeniable passion in Steve's voice, "Which is why she can never know what we did."

Steve visibly prickled at his former father in law's words and informed him, "I've already played the bad guy in this little scene, Superintendent. I'm not going to do it again by being the one to tell her what **you** did. Is that why you called? To make sure your secret is safe?"

"I…"

"What secret?"

Steve closed his eyes and his heart dropped to the floor when Harper walked into the office.

Wrinkling her forehead at Steve's reaction, she explained, "I saw my dad on the big screen. Dad, what secret are you talking about?"

Harper turned toward the screen to study her father's handsome face, with thin lips that so often had praised her in moments of triumph. But gone was their warm, wry smile; it had been replaced with a hard unyielding line as he stated, "Harper…"

Panic rose up inside her at the tight sound of his voice, so she asked quickly, "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Steve said quickly. Despite his feelings toward Mickey James, this was not a situation any father should have to be in and he would try to get him off the hook.

"Don't lie to me," Harper warned, never taking her eyes off of her father, "Either of you."

"I'm not…"

But Mickey James was not going to have Steve lie for him, so he stated matter of factly, "I was checking in on the case."

"Then why would you call him?" Harper asked accusingly, gesturing toward Steve as she used Danny's logic from earlier, "Why wouldn't you call me? This isn't about the case, is it? This is about me. What's going on?"

"Your father wanted an update and no one else was in the office…"

"You are lying," Harper hissed, turning toward her ex-husband with fire flashing in her eyes, "I know you're lying. You know how I know? Cause you're a bad liar!" She was shouting now and she didn't seem to care as she went on, "Danny was here and my father would rather talk to a stranger than to you."

The pair locked eyes for what seemed like an eternity and then Steve made the decision that was going to turn everyone's world upside down. Turning to look at Mickey on the screen, he threw up his hands in defeat and told him, "I already told you…I'm done being the bad guy."

"What does that mean?" she asked, a wild look coming over her face. Walking over to stand next to Steve and facing the screen, Harper demanded, "What secret about me do the two of you share?"

Mickey James knew it was his show and he cleared his throat as he stated in an emotionless voice, "Seven years ago, I was instrumental in securing Commander McGarrett's promotion and transfer to Little Creek base in Virgina to command S.E.A.L. team Two. And I advised him that one of the conditions of his promotion was that he had to go without you. And that if he did not, I would see to it that his military career would be in serious jeopardy."


	12. Daddy's Little Girl

_**ery06 – I didn't really have an actress/model in my head when creating Harper, but now that I have thought about it I would have to say that she is a combination of The Mentalist's Amanda Righetti (Grace Van Pelt) and Castle's Stana Katic (Kate Beckett)…she is a beautiful redhead like Van Pelt but is a respected cop like Beckett. I do know that when I write for Mickey James I am totally envisioning Tom Selleck from Blue Bloods!**_

_**Obviously, I am a Steve McGarrett fan. I mean, I created a character to give him a past and he's the reason I wrote this fic! So, if I made him seem insensitive and like a "tool", he will be redeemed in these next few chapters. But I also love Harper and I have a soft spot in my heart for daddies and their little girls. The character of Mickey James was difficult because he had to play the "bad guy" in the divorce scenario to make Steve come out looking like the hero. But don't be too mad at Harper's daddy…he did what he did out of love and thought he was doing what was best for his child. I'm not sure I was able to convey that through the conversation in this chapter, but the pain is still fresh and Harper is still pissed. We will be seeing Mickey James again and I think I will actually be able to redeem him, too! Anyway, I just wanted to set him up in a more positive light before you read about how he completely destroyed our beloved Harper and Steve's happiness! LOL. **_

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><p><strong>Chapter Twelve – Daddy's Little Girl<strong>

"_They say that from the instant he lays eyes on her, a father adores his daughter. Whoever she grows up to be, she is always to him that little girl in pigtails. She makes him feel like Christmas. In exchange, he makes a secret promise not to see the awkwardness of her teenage years, the mistakes she makes or the secrets she keeps."_ -Anonymous

"How the hell did you do that?"

Oh, she was pissed. Steve had never seen her this angry, even in the midst of their worst arguments. Harper was eerily calm as she posed the question to her father, but he could tell that the anger and resentment and betrayal were bubbling just below the surface. And when she let it blow, it was going to be UGLY.

Not wavering from his daughter's icy glare, Mickey James stated, "Rear Admiral Winters owed me a favor."

"That must have been one hell of a favor," Harper drawled, crossing her arms over her chest and digging in for a fight.

"His son…"

"Never mind, I don't want to know," she interrupted, "I don't collect favors to cash in…apparently that is your department."

"Harper…"

"You threatened his military career to get him to leave me?" she asked quickly, gesturing toward Steve but never once taking her eyes off of her father's image on the screen.

"That is the simple version…"

"Well, then I can't wait to hear the complicated version."

For some reason, Steve felt the need to jump in at this point. But he quickly found out that this was not actually his fight.

"Jimmy, I…"

"Get out."

"What?" The leader of Five-0 asked, blinking quickly in surprise at her sudden command.

"I need the room," Harper explained, still not turning to look at him, "I can't deal with both of you right now, so just get out."

"This is my office…" Steve reminded her quietly, wincing as he realized that he had probably just managed to piss her off even more.

"Get out!" she shouted, finally spinning around to glare at him and then warned in an icy voice, "But don't go too far."

Glad to have the bulk of her anger focused at her father, Steve backed quietly out of the office and pretended to busy himself out in the bullpen. But, he remained within earshot and never took his eyes off of her…they were in unchartered territory here and he had no idea what was coming next. For any of them.

"Honey," Mickey began once Steve had exited the room, "I think you need to sit down now and try to relax…"

"Oh, bite me!"

"Bite me?" her father repeated in surprise, "I feel the need to remind you that I am still your father and we are not in the middle of a cop bar…"

"Well, forgive my bluntness," Harper shot back sarcastically, believing that the last thing she needed at that moment was a lecture on her language, "It's a device I use to cope."

"Harper…"

"I can't believe you!" she raged suddenly, the sarcasm turning to anger very quickly, "You destroyed my marriage? What happened? Did you just wake up one morning and decide that being Chicago's top cop wasn't enough for you anymore and you felt like playing God?"

"Your marriage to Steve was falling apart…"

"That didn't give you the right to obliterate it!" Harper interrupted angrily, wanting answers but not wanting to listen to anything he had to say. But she couldn't keep herself from asking, "How could you do that to me?"

"You were becoming a stranger to me!" Mickey replied, just as angry as his daughter was, "You were living in a city where you didn't know anyone, didn't have anyone to turn to…"

"I had Steve!"

"You were shutting him out," he reminded his daughter, "And he wasn't emotionally equipped to handle what was happening to you. He proved that over and over again."

"We would have gotten through it!"

"You needed your family," Mickey told her, convinced that he had done the right thing for her.

"I needed to be treated like an adult!" Harper shouted back at him. She sank back against Steve's desk to steady herself because she felt like her whole world had just been pulled out from underneath her. This couldn't be happening.

"You weren't acting like an adult," her father informed her, using the same tone he used to use when she had broken curfew as a teenager, "You ran off and got married after knowing each other for six months. And then you gave up your life, your family, your friends, your job to follow him to San Diego."

"Getting married and moving in with my husband was not acting like an adult?" she drawled, frowning at his screwed up logic.

"Your entire relationship with that man was wrong…"

"What was so wrong about it?" Harper asked angrily, knowing she wasn't going to get an answer that would satisfy her. They had had this conversation before and he had never been able to articulate what he found so wrong with Steve. "I loved him! And he loved me! How was that wrong?"

"He was supposed to protect you…"

"He did!"

"And so did I."

"Oh no," she warned, moving away from the desk and coming to stand directly in front of the screen again as she hissed, "don't you dare compare the two things. He was honest with me. You manipulated me at every turn. How could you do that?"

"He was hired to do a job," Mickey reminded her flatly, dredging up the old argument, "And instead he took advantage of the situation…"

"Steve never took advantage of me!" she shouted, "I made the first move!" When the surprise registered in her father's eyes, she twisted the verbal dagger in deeper by saying insensitively, "Yes, daddy, your precious little girl was hot for her Navy babysitter. He tried to resist me, but you raised me to go after what I wanted. And what I wanted was Steve McGarrett! He was perfect for me and you ruined it!"

"He was hurting you!" The Superintendent replied, refusing to believe anything that his daughter was saying, "I could hear it in your voice…he was making it worse, not better. You were lost and he couldn't help you. I could. Your brothers could. You needed to be home…in Chicago."

She was silent for a few moments before she asked quietly, "Did you get me back on the force?"

"No."

"Don't lie to me anymore," Harper warned, not knowing what the real truth was anymore.

"I had nothing to do with it," Mickey assured her, "Your work on the Crazy Joe case stood on its own. I have never interfered in your career."

"So, just my marriage then?" she shot back sarcastically. Shaking her head in disbelief at this turn of events, she muttered, "I can't believe my life. One minute it's going okay, I mean... as okay as my life can get, then the gong knocks me completely off my feet. And now I find out that the most important man in my universe was responsible both times."

Mickey James stared through his computer screen at his little girl and for the first time in his life he didn't know what to do. So he tried to explain, "I've tried to be fair, Harper, in raising you...in raising all of you. I made choices that had to be made. And sometimes those choices were not black and white, so I don't know anymore which was right and which was wrong. All I do know is that they were made with love."

"Love?" Harper asked rhetorically with a short, humorless little laugh. Shaking her head, her voice was emotionless as she said, "This wasn't about love. This was about control. You couldn't control me anymore and that was eating at you." She finally lifted her head to face him and when she spoke again there was a definite emotion in her voice…anger. "That's what you always hated about Steve, wasn't it? He didn't take your shit. He stood up to you. And when I chose him, you lost your mind. Because you always had to win."

Harper began backing away from the screen, disgust and disappointment mixing with the anger in her eyes. She had never looked at her father that way before and it was killing him.

"You had to beat him, didn't you? So how did it feel, dad?" she asked pointedly, but it was clear that she wasn't interested in the answer. She already had one. "How did it feel to win? Was it everything you had hoped it would be? Did it make you feel powerful? All those nights that I spent at your house trying to figure out what I had done to make him stop loving me, trying to figure out what I could have done to make him stay…how did that feel?"

"Harper, it broke my heart," Mickey told her, not believing what he was hearing, "I am your father…"

"Oh, cut the crap!" she spat out at him, "You forgot how to be anything but a cop a long time ago. After Mom died…you stopped, you know? It was like you couldn't stand the sight of me. Because I had her face, her hair, her eyes looking up at you." The unshed tears glistened on her eyelashes, but Harper refused to let them fall as she reminded him, "But big girls don't cry, right? That's what you always said. And I bought into that…hook, line, and sinker. You ran our house like you ran a police station and if the boys and I didn't report in for duty every morning…"

"That's what you think?" her father interrupted angrily, wishing he could fly through the computer screen and stand in front of her. Forcefully he continued, "My God, Harper, you are my child! Everything that I have done, I have done for you." Mickey took a deep breath and visibly calmed himself down as he tried to explain, "When your mother told me that she was pregnant with a fifth child, I could see in her eyes that she was hoping for a little girl. After four boys, she was desperate for a daughter. Not that she would ever admit it, but I could see her dreaming of pretty little dresses and tea parties and shopping trips and secrets shared between mothers and daughters. And then you came along and you were tiny and perfect and my Sophia was so happy to finally have her little girl. But then, from the moment the nurse put you in my arms…you belonged to me. She told me years later that she had watched it happen, watched me fall so completely in love with you."

If Harper hadn't known better she would have sworn she saw her father wipe away an unseen tear, but she knew that Mickey James didn't cry…not in front of his children. Or his police officers.

"When she died," he continued in an emotional voice, "a thousand people said a thousand stupid things to me and I just wanted one of them to give me a reason not to die, too. And then somebody did. You. You crawled into my lap one night and cried yourself to sleep. And I knew in that moment that I couldn't ever let you down. That I could never let anyone hurt you ever again. And I most certainly couldn't ever lose you."

Harper's unshed tears had a mind of their own and they slid down her cheeks at his words. But it didn't change what he did, she told herself. And out loud she replied steadily, "But that doesn't give you the right to play God with my life." Looking out into the bullpen where Steve was deep in conversation with Danny, she asked quietly, "How did you get him to agree?"

"It wasn't as hard…"

"Don't," she warned angrily, turning back to face her father, "Don't you put this on him. I will deal with Steve and the choices he made, but this is about you." The look of hurt in Mickey's eyes surprised her, so she explained, "He loved me! He loved me, daddy! And you made me doubt that!"

"I didn't…"

"I know you," she told him, "I know how you can talk people into doing things your way and they come out of it thinking it was their idea. You made him think it was hopeless, didn't you? That he would only bring me more misery. Hell, you probably made it sound like leaving me was the noble thing to do!"

"He would bring you more misery!" Mickey stated. Despite everything that had been said, he was steadfast in that belief so he told her, "The life of a S.E.A.L.'s wife…who wants to live like that?"

"I did!" she reminded him forcefully, "I chose it! I chose him!"

"Tell me that you were happy, Harper," her father shot back just as forcefully, "Tell me. The secret missions, the last minute deployments…that is no way to nurture a marriage, to raise a family." He shook his head at the memory of that time and continued, "You were in crisis, baby, and you couldn't even see it. Sometimes my job as a father isn't to give you the whole picture, because the truth is, I can't see it myself. My job is to try and help. And every now and then, fit a piece of the puzzle."

"This wasn't a piece of the puzzle!" Harper tried to get him to understand, but he just wouldn't budge, "This was my life, my marriage. Maybe it wasn't perfect, but it was mine! I did everything exactly the way I was supposed to. I was going to make my marriage to Steve work because I knew he was the one. We did everything right. And it didn't matter. Because you decided that it wasn't right and you broke it. Your interference caused us to take something that was once so perfect, so right, and so once in a lifetime…and we blew it. We hurt each other to the very core and we destroyed a relationship that was so important to both of us. And in the process, we almost destroyed each other. Don't you see that? Don't you see what you did?"

His voice was emotional as he choked out, "Harper…"

"I was happy, daddy," she interrupted him, the sadness in her voice was in complete contrast to her words, "We were happy. The way you and mom were once happy. I finally had what you had…someone to laugh with, someone to hold my hand, someone who would kiss me in the kitchen for absolutely no reason at all." Harper brushed at the tears on her cheeks and silently cursed them as a sign of weakness as she continued, "And maybe things weren't going so well for awhile there, but he still tried to kiss me in the kitchen. Right up until the end. And he still took my hand in the middle of the night because that was the only time I wouldn't pull away from him. He still loved me."

"I still love you, too," he told her quietly, his heart breaking at the raw pain he saw on his daughter's face and the ache he could hear in her voice. Sighing heavily, Mickey looked through the screen at his little girl and admitted, "When your mother died, I spent so much time thinking, 'God, I hope I'm not like my father'. And then I worried, 'What if my kids are thinking the same about me?' It was easier for me, Harper, to raise you the way that I did. Because I could never let you kids see that I was falling apart inside. To keep you on the right track...to get you through those years...I couldn't let you see that it was happening to me. And maybe I should have, I don't know. I just know that I wanted you to be happy." Shaking his head, he told her, "Look at me, Harper," When she obediently raised her head and met his gaze, he told her honestly, "I know I did something terrible and horrible to you, and if I could take it back, I would. But please know that I am truly, very, deeply sorry. I'm not going to make any more excuses, I'm just sorry. And I know that you are angry with me and that you will stay angry with me for a long time. But, baby, we're family, real family. And that means, no matter how long it takes, when you finally do decide to stop being angry with me, I'll still be here."

Harper drew in a shaky breath as she reached out to touch the power button on the screen. And before she turned it off, she murmured, "Good-bye, daddy."


	13. Strong Enough

_**Lucky Thirteen! I hope you think so too...**_

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><p><strong>Chapter Thirteen – Strong Enough<strong>

"_I have a face I cannot show, I make the rules up as I go. Just try and love me if you can. Are you strong enough to be my man? When I've shown you that I just don't care, When I'm throwing punches in the air, When I'm broken down and I can't stand, Are you man enough to be my man?"_ ~ Sheryl Crowe

_Five-0 Headquarters..._

"He had you transferred to Virginia?" Danny asked, blinking rapidly in surprise as Steve filled him in on the most recent turn of events, "And you went?"

Sighing heavily and glancing back over his shoulder to where Harper and her father were hashing it out in his office, Steve reasoned, "I know it all looks black and white to you, but it's more complicated than you think."

Danny opened his mouth to respond, then thought for a moment and closed it again. He cocked his head to one side and regarded his partner, the look on his face, and the story he was telling him. And then, it seemed as if he accepted Steve's explanation because he simply asked, "Who is this guy…the Godfather? How the hell does he have the United States Navy at his beck and call."

"My promotion was coming down the pike anyway," Steve admitted, "and Mickey just made a few phone calls to his old college football buddy, Rear Admiral Winters, and hurried it along a little bit. Apparently, the Admiral owed him a favor. A big one."

Shaking his head, Danny mused, "I've always heard about the rumored corruption in the Chicago PD…I just never knew it was going on in the Superintendent's own house."

"You don't get to be the Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department without knowing a few important people," his partner reasoned, "Mickey James has as many friends as he does enemies."

"And it looks like he just made a new enemy," the Jersey detective replied, pointing into Steve's office where Harper had just tearfully turned off the big screen with her father's image on it, "His daughter."

Both men watched as the redhead wandered aimlessly around the small office until she finally collapsed in Steve's desk chair and let out a long breath. She looked completely exhausted and defeated, but Steve was unsure of his next move. Should he give her a few moments to herself before suiting up to do battle with him or should he…?

"Get in there, pinhead," Danny interrupted his thoughts, giving Steve a shove and making the decision for him, "She needs you."

Steve nodded and moved slowly toward his office door while Danny headed in the opposite direction, saying, "I think Kono and Chin and I are done for the evening so you guys can have a little privacy. But if she kills you, make sure the blood spatter is contained in your office so that it's a smaller crime scene…"

The Commander shot a dirty look in his partner's direction as he pushed open the door to his office. Inside, he found that Harper had discarded her gray pinstriped suit jacket and the baby blue of the camisole she wore underneath had always been one of his favorite colors on her. Steve stood silently and watched her as she sat in his chair and busied herself by opening all of the drawers in his desk.

"Looking for something?" he finally asked with a smirk as she approached her.

"Chocolate," she answered, leaning down to open his bottom desk drawer.

"I don't keep chocolate in my de-…"

"This is a nice desk," Harper interrupted suddenly, switching sides and beginning to go through the drawers on that side, "Except for the lack of chocolate, of course."

"Of course."

"Do you keep your gun in this top drawer, here?"

Amused by her strange behavior, Steve asked, "Why? Are you going to shoot me?"

"I'm thinking about it."

"Then, no," he answered with a chuckle, "I don't keep it in there."

Surprising him, she returned his grin and then sat back in his chair and twirled around in a complete circle before looking back up at him and asking, "Did he pay you?"

"No," Steve said with a shake of his head, "He did not pay me."

"Ah, so he simply dangled your real true love in front of your nose like a carrot and you jumped," she deduced, crossing her arms over her chest and leveling him with her eyes.

"You were my real true love," he told her quietly.

"Obviously not, since you chose the NAVY," she reminded him pointedly.

"I didn't have a choice."

"Yes you did," she disagreed, "You just chose wrong."

Steve let out a long sigh. His moment of truth had arrived. He didn't have much of a defense, so he simply said, "You know how your father can be…"

"Yes, I do. Better than anyone," Harper interrupted, "But, despite what some people may think, he is not God. If you had wanted to stay, you would have."

"It wasn't that simple."

"Seems pretty simple to me," she argued with a defiant shake of her head.

"Yes, seven years later…I'm sure it would seem pretty simple. But it wasn't," Steve informed her in a calm voice, "You don't think I agonized over that choice? I didn't just wake up one morning and decide to leave. I waited…I waited for a sign from you. And you just kept pushing me away. The only time that I could touch you without you flinching was in the middle of the night when you were asleep…"

"So this is my fault?" Harper interrupted, fire blazing in her eyes again. That temper of hers could flare up without a moment's notice. "Well, I'm sorry that I made it impossible for you to stay with me. I'm sorry that I had trouble dealing with the deaths of those girls. I'm sorry that I…"

"That's not what I'm saying!" he shouted at her. Realizing how loud he had gotten, he got a tighter rein on his emotions and continued, "I'm not blaming you at all. I take full responsibility for it. What I'm trying to tell you is that I realized that I didn't know how to help you. I didn't know how to break through to you…"

"All you had to do was love me, Steven," the detective told him sadly, "That was all I needed from you."

"No, it wasn't," he disagreed, "Because I did love you. Every second of every day, I loved you. But you kept pushing me away. You didn't want to be touched. You pulled away when I tried to hold you, you stopped eating and sleeping, you would cry out in the middle of the night from those terrible nightmares…calling out those girls names. And when I would reach to comfort you, you would leave our bed and go down to that damn study to work on the case…"

"It was the only thing I knew how to do," Harper defended herself, wishing that he wouldn't bring up those horrible memories, "I thought that if I could solve the case then it would all just go away…"

"It wasn't going away, Jimmy," Steve told her tenderly, moving over to sit on the edge of the desk closest to her, "It was getting worse. You were getting farther away from me and I didn't know what to do."

"So you called my father?"

"In hindsight, it wasn't my brightest move," he agreed, shaking his head, "But I was desperate. He said that you needed to be back in Chicago, surrounded by the people you loved and things that were familiar. And that the worst thing for you would to be to pick up and leave San Diego to go to Virginia to start a new life there." Looking deep into those emerald eyes, Steve reasoned, "Life with me was making you miserable, Jimmy. You were a junior grade detective in a second rate police department. I was gone all the time and you worked all the time, so you hardly knew anyone and didn't have time to make friends. You hated that life."

"But I loved you!" she cried, standing up and facing him, "And I was willing to make it work. I would have given you everything! For God's sake, Steve, I gave you me! I couldn't give you more than that - I didn't know how to. I gave up everything to be with you…my family, my friends, my job. And I did it willingly. How could you not see that?"

"I did see that!" Steve argued back, standing up to face her, "And I hated it! You're right…I got everything out of our marriage. I got you and the job I loved in the city that I was established in. And all you got was me…and I wasn't there half the time! And then when you needed me the most…you were alone." He ran his hands through his short brown hair in frustration and stood up to begin pacing the room as he continued, "I couldn't stand it. I couldn't stand what it was doing to you. We hardly recognized each other at the end…what was I supposed to do?"

"Stay!" Harper blurted out, coming out from behind the desk, "Stay and fight for us! Fight for our marriage! My father gave you a one way ticket out of town and you just took it. I could have gone to Virginia Beach with you, we could have…"

"It would have been more of the same."

"How do you know?" she cried desperately, "You didn't even give it a chance!"

"Because your father was right!" he shouted, stopping near the door to look at her again, "You were born for the Chicago PD, not for San Diego or Virginia Beach! Dammit Jimmy, look what you have become! I made the right choice!"

"Look what I've become?" she repeated incredulously, a look of shock washing over her beautiful features. Harper laughed a short, humorless laugh before she informed him angrily, "What I became is a stressed out, workaholic who never took time out to have kids! Jesus, Steve, when you left, I cried for a week! Like a pathetic little child, curled up in the corner of our bedroom. And then when I crawled out of that corner, I crawled straight into a bottle and drank away the pain. I became a cartoon cliché of myself."

He knew that the aftermath of his departure had been bad for her, but he hadn't realized how bad until that very moment. Harper James didn't cry…that was part of their original problem. But she had cried for him. And that tore like a dagger straight to his heart. But he had to make her understand that he had done it for her, so he reminded her quietly, "But when you crawled out of the bottle, you became the youngest woman to make Homicide Detective in the history of the Chicago Police Department. You are amazing…"

"I am not amazing," the redhead told him, sinking down on the nearby sofa, "My career may be amazing, but I am not. You know how I told you that I've moved on? Well, it 's a lie. I am a walking, talking dating disaster…"

"I find that hard to believe," he interrupted, imagining the line of men who were probably waiting to beat down her door.

"Believe it," she said, propping her elbow up on the side of the sofa and resting her tired head in her palm, "You want to know why? Because I measure every single guy who comes into my life against you. And they never measure up. Not one of them."

Steve didn't know what to say. He wanted to tell her that he had been doing the same thing, but before he got up the courage to say the words out loud, she asked, "Do you ever think about that day? The day you left?"

"I try not to," he admitted, coming over to sit down next to her on the couch.

"I do," Harper informed him sadly, "I run through that conversation all the time, word for word. Like I'm expecting it to end differently or something. But it never does." Tears suddenly welled up in her eyes as she reminded him softly, "You gave me the chance…"

"Jimmy, don't…"

"And I blew it," she continued, as if she had not even heard his quiet plea, "You basically begged me to ask you to stay. All you wanted was for me to trust you. And I didn't. So, you left. The biggest regret of my life is I didn't stop you. My heart was telling me to run after you, but my pride got in the way. Here I am spouting off about you not fighting for our marriage when the truth is that I didn't put up much of a fight either. I know that you hate me for that and…"

"I could never hate you," he told her quietly, looking over at her just in time to see a single tear fall and splash on her cheek.

"I don't have nightmares anymore," she told him, reaching up to swipe that tear away just before he did, "They stopped and they were replaced by this new dream. I still have it sometimes. I dream that we're out on a the pier at sunset and I finally get up the courage to ask you not to leave and every single time you say 'I won't.'"

Steve felt his heart breaking for the hundredth time that day as she continued, "I know that this wasn't entirely your fault. And it wasn't even entirely my dad's fault. I know that I am not the innocent victim in this and I'm sorry that I did that to us. To you. I'm sorry for what I put you through. For shutting you out and making you feel like you weren't important. And I'm sorry for not realizing how hard it must have been and how much hurt I had caused you. I know you didn't file for divorce on a whim. I know that I drove you to that place…"

The tears were flowing freely down her face and she made no move to wipe them away. She couldn't be strong anymore…she didn't want to be. Steve could sense it and he covered the distance between them on the couch as he pulled her closer to his strong body and wrapped her in his embrace. She laid her head on his chest and tried to calm her sobs. But it was no use. They were sobs of pure sorrow and regret and would not be calmed by his intimate embrace or the force of her strong will.

Steve held her for a few more moments and then she felt his hand on her chin, forcing her head up. His handsome face was so close to hers and she could feel his breath on her skin as he told her, "You have nothing to be sorry for. It was a horrible situation and we all thought we were doing the right thing at the time."

"No," she argued, shaking her head but he held her chin firmly in his grasp, "I should have reached out for you. I…I was drowning and you were dry land. And when you stopped loving me, I just went over the edge…"

Steve shook his head as her voice trailed off and he whispered, "I never stopped loving you, Harper. Never. I still love you."

Surely, somehow, he had to convince her that he loved her. Because he did love her. God, he did. With every fiber of his being. If he could just go back to that little house they shared in San Diego and make it as if the whole thing never happened, he would do it in a heartbeat. But he knew wishing that he could summon some mystical figure who could wipe those days from Harper's mind was useless. All he could do was try to make her see reason, make her see that what had happened to them had broken him, too. He had walked away from her and tried to make a new life that didn't include her, he had even halfway succeeded, but it was never what he really wanted. He just wanted her - his Jimmy - in his life. He wanted her in his world. In his bed. Only her. He wanted her back. He loved her. Dammit he did, but she was past hearing his excuses.

Now was the time for action.

Before he could stop himself, Steve's mouth came crashing down onto hers with unexpected force. Harper brought her hands up to his shoulders, intending to push his sudden intrusion away before things went too far...but somehow her arms never got the message that her brain was sending. Instead she grasped his shoulders and pulled him closer, reveling in the masculine smell and taste of Steve McGarrett. Through their kiss, he smiled at her response and the pull of his lips began teasing hers. So he deepened the kiss, tentatively bringing his tongue to her bottom lip and running it over the sensitive area where the lip met her sweet skin. An unexpected yet familiar thrill shot through Harper's body and she felt herself go limp in his embrace. Drowning in the sweetness of him and his kiss, Harper realized that it had been a long time since she had been kissed so thoroughly. And she had missed it. She had missed him.

But then, just as suddenly as it had happened...it was over.

Breathing heavily, Harper jerked away from their kiss and his embrace and they simply stared at each other for a moment. Her bright green eyes reflected a desire he had created in her so many times before, her cheeks had turned rosy, and her full red lips were still parted in response to his kiss.

"We can't do this," she protested weakly, leaning back to put some space between the two of them, "I…we…"

"Right," Steve agreed, but he made no move to put any distance between them.

"I can't do this again," she reasoned, "I can't get sucked in the way I did before…"

They locked gazes and Harper's heart tightened in her chest. The room waited silently for several extended moments while Steve wetted his lips and watched her with curious interest. They were so close that Steve could feel her breath coming hot and fast against his neck and chin. He looked into her eyes one more time, and there was no way she could have stopped herself then even if she'd wanted to…not with him so close, not when she could hear his heart pounding so hard in his chest as if urging him to do what she kept avoiding.

Harper melted. Again, she felt his hot gaze land on her mouth, and she tried fruitlessly to avoid the entire thing, but his commanding, blue orbs penetrated her resolve, causing a wave of terrifying emotions to sweep through her. She could almost feel her fingers start to tremble as the memory of his kiss swept powerfully over her, replaying in her head a million times in the span of a second. Leaning over slightly, Harper softly and gently pressed her lips against his. His arms snaked around her waist, drawing her closer and she sighed into his mouth, running her own hands up his chest and then wrapping her arms around his neck. A low moan escaped his lips as he deepened their second kiss and she began running her fingertips through the short tangles of his hair, reveling in the feeling of it's surprising softness.

Harper could feel herself sinking, into what she did not know. And she didn't know how much further she could sink without harm.

"No, no," she repeated, dragging her lips away from his again.

"Yes," Steve replied, pulling her back towards him, nipping at her soft lips.

"You have a girlfriend," Harper reminded him breathlessly, putting both hands on his chest and finally pushing him away and back to reality. Standing up on shaky legs, she turned quickly and ran out of his office, leaving Steve sitting alone in his office wondering what the hell had just happened.


	14. Everything Can Change

_**I'm going to save my comments about this chapter until the beginning of the next one for reasons that will become clear soon.**_

_**I love those moments when you are watching a TV show or a movie or reading a book and something happens that you completely didn't expect. A moment that was such an out of the blue surprise that you have to reread (or rewind) to figure out how you didn't manage to see that one coming. I hope that this chapter will be one of those for you…**_

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><p><strong>Chapter 14 – Everything Can Change<strong>

"_Lying here in the darkness, I hear the sirens wail, __Somebody going to emergency, Somebody's going to jail. __If you find somebody to love in this world you better hang on tooth and nail. _

_The wolf is always at the door. _

_In a New York Minute everything can change. __In a New York Minute things can get a little strange. __In a New York Minute everything can change._

_In a New York Minute"_

~Don Henley

_Harper James' Hotel Room, an hour later…_

"I am so tired of overprotective men that I could just scream."

Harper, muttering to herself, walked into her hotel room and shut the door behind her by giving it a swift kick with one of her booted heels. She moved into the kitchenette area to set down the bags of groceries she had acquired on her way home from headquarters and then shrugged off her jacket and threw it over the back of the nearby sofa. Walking back into the bedroom, she removed her gun from it's holster at her hip and unlocked the lockbox she kept in the nightstand. Securing the gun in the armored box, she then repeated the process with the Keltec P32 she carried in her ankle rig. It was her nightly routine that began back in Chicago where she never knew when one of her nieces or nephews would stop by unannounced. She continued the routine in Hawaii simply out of habit. Once both of her weapons were locked away, she began the process of removing the rest of her clothing and changed into a pair of khaki shorts and a gray tank top

After pouring herself a glass of wine and loading her favorite Sarah McLachlan playlist into the hotel room's sound system, Harper walked into the kitchenette and began unpacking the grocery bags full of ingredients for her Grandma Angie's famous spaghetti sauce. On nights when she needed to feel closer to her mother, the next best thing to having her around was a big pot of sauce whose recipe had been passed down through the women in her family for generations. Cooking was her favorite brand of therapy after a long day at work…there was something so soothing about the process of transforming raw, solitary ingredients into a savory amalgamation of flavor, smell, taste, texture, and color. Plus, cooking took a certain amount of concentration and it was hard to think about Wo Fat or her father or Steve when the aromas of oregano, basil, garlic, sautéed onions, and browning sausage began to waft through the hotel room.

Soon enough, the delicious smells from her childhood began to fill the room. Her late mother, Mary Sophia DeAngelo James, was a good little Italian girl from the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago before Mickey James rode in and swept her off her feet. Most of the memories Harper had of her mother had to do with food…sitting on the counter in the kitchen while her mother prepared dinner, taking a homemade casserole to a needy neighbor or a police officer's widow, and large family gatherings with plenty of love, laughter, and cannoli's. Somehow being in the kitchen always made her feel closer to her mom.

Once all of the ingredients for the sauce were combined, Harper turned the burner down to low so that it could simmer for about an hour. After refilling her wine glass, the redhead moved across the small living area to turn up the volume on the sound system before opening her french doors and stepping out onto the balcony of her room. Moonlight, the palest shade of blue, shone down on the quiet still of the ocean. Merging with the water, it made an exquisite portrait of serenity. The dim rays of light glazed the dark body, waves few and far between, a midnight black vicinity, a slightly rippled mass resembling the smoothest, shimmering glass.

Hopeless romantics might appreciate the view, somewhere along the distance looking from the natural mirror to the stars above, whispering sonnets and promises of eternal love and passion. To the lone figure standing on the balcony, though, there wasn't anything beautiful about it. The only emotion she found in the night's shadows was that of supreme frustration. Mystical enchantment and heart removed from the equation, all that remained was a haunting, chilling feeling in the air. Very much like her current mood.

_"If it takes my whole life, I won't break, I won't bend. It will all be worth it, worth it in the end. __Cause I can only tell you what I know, that I need you in my life. When the stars have all gone out you'll still be burning so bright. Cast me gently into morning, for the night has been unkind. __Take me to a place so holy that I can wash this from my mind. The memory of choosing not to fight."_

The words to one of Harper's favorite songs drifted out into the night air as the redhead allowed herself to get lost in the memories of the day's events.

Steven John McGarrett.

The moment that man came barging into her life she knew that nothing would ever be the same again. Their chemistry had been instant, but they had both tried to deny it at first. She resented his constant presence during her every waking hour and he was the dedicated military man whose sole mission was to keep her alive. But one reckless night had changed everything for them and set them on the long and winding path that had brought them both to Hawaii. Maybe it was fate. Swirling her wine around in her glass, Harper smirked and thought that maybe...

Whap!

The gloved hand that clamped itself firmly over Harper's mouth and nose sent a jolt of shock through her system. Taken completely by surprise, she froze in terror for one horrifying instant before her cop instincts began to kick in. Though her attacker's other arm was wrapped tightly around her chest, effectively pinning both her arms against her body, Harper bucked wildly, kicking her legs, and moving her upper body as much as she could. But it was no use...her attacker had to be twice her size and his very large and strong male body tackled her from behind. All of his weight was pressing down on her, pinning her to the hard, cold tile floor of her balcony and her brain began to compute every useful piece of information he was giving her as he began cutting off her air supply.

_Powerful. Athlete._

Harper suddenly realized that it wasn't a glove covering her mouth and nose…it was a cloth. Thick and damp. It was suffocating her. Was it chloroform? No, it was odorless. Ether? Her brain was beginning to go fuzzy and she was afraid she was going to black out, but she had to get him off of her first. Bracing her legs beneath her, she used all the strength within her to twist her body to the left, threw all of her weight away from her attacker and toward the open door leading back into her hotel room. He fell back against the railing of the balcony and suddenly she was free of his grasp.

"Bad idea, Detective James," his muffled voice said into the sudden darkness that surrounded them.

Trying desperately to stay awake, Harper moved toward the living area of her room but the powerful drug was beginning to take effect. Her eyes were wild and her heart was hammering so loudly that she thought he might hear it. Reaching the sofa, she shrieked as loudly as she could, "Help! Somebody help me!"

But she had sealed her own fate by turning the music up so loud that no one was going to hear her cries. Powerful hands like claws grabbed at her and managed to grab her arm just above the wrist as she got to her feet. Harper howled as she jerked herself free of his grasp once more.

_Savage, yet rational and crafty. Professional athlete?_

Another of her father's lessons from her childhood broke through the numbing fear and chaos of the moment and she abruptly remembered something her father had told her as a little girl… _Avoid all fights. Whenever possible, run from a fight. Those who avoid a fight always live to fight another day._

Run from a fight, she told herself. Run. Run. Run.

She had to be better than her attacker…better than his plan. But she couldn't see a damn thing. He had turned off every light in her hotel room. Her vision and sense of balance were definitely way off. There were two of just about every shape and shifting shadow in the room. Son of a bitch! Goddamn him! The detective thought of her guns locked safely away in the bedroom just a few feet away and from somewhere in her semi-conscious state, Harper smelled the sauce simmering away in the kitchenette.

Kitchen! There were knives in the kitchen. She had left one on the counter when she had finished slicing the onions…

Harper moved quickly to her left, away from the human monster in her room. Excruciating pain suddenly shot through her leg as she realized that she had clipped the end of the stupid coffee table in the middle of the room. She knew that she was so close to passing out because the drug he had given her had left her little strength to run anymore. She wasn't going to make it to the kitchen, no matter how hard she tried. She was being overpowered by her own body, her own senses.

She turned and a brilliant bright light shone right in her eyes.

A flashlight.

There was another man in the room. Harper's heart sank…she was drugged, unarmed, and outnumbered.

"Mikey, grab her!" came the voice from the balcony.

Mikey? As in Michael Sugimoto, Kai Akino's right hand man? That certainly made sense since Wo Fat and the Wilson Crips were the only people in Hawaii who could possibly want her dead. The second man, Mikey, moved the flashlight away, but she could still see the residual circles of light and Harper began to blink as she could barely make out the silhouette of a man.

_Tall. More than six feet tall. Long hair._

She couldn't see his face, just a glimpse of his profile.

And then suddenly she was being thrown into the living room wall, her cheek making a sickening cracking sound when it connected against the hard surface. Harper, stumbling blindly back from the wall, fell right into the arms of her original attacker as she cried out and knew the blood she tasted in her mouth was her own. The man's grip was strong and realizing her size made fighting herself free an impossibility, the smart detective tried a different tactic.

She went limp.

Abruptly.

Suddenly.

She just went slack, becoming dead weight in her captor's arms. Whoever he was, he groaned in surprise at the sudden burden. Harper, the whole left side of her face on fire, took that opportunity to rear back and land a well aimed kick right in her attacker's shin. The man howled in pain and instinctively let go of Harper's chest, so she used her newly freed arm to ram it into his abdomen sharply. Angry now, her still unseen attacker grabbed Harper by the hair. Her scream of pain was muffled by his large palm as he pulled the handful of hair, hard. Harper, mouth still open from her scream, did the only thing she could think to do. She bit down on the inside of his palm, and nearly choked when her teeth broke through flesh and her mouth was flooded with the metallic taste of blood.

"You bitch!"

And that was the last thing she heard as Harper's body completely betrayed her and her eyes slid closed as the mix of chemicals worked through her respiratory system and the world went black.


	15. Gone

_**Okay, so here is the story behind the story - Olivia Marie 20 actually suggested a kidnapping plot in a review for one of the earlier chapters, but at the time I was going in a different direction with the story. But then I got a brainstorm about a plot that just wouldn't stop running around in my head. And the more I thought about it, the more the kidnapping would fit into this new idea. But I didn't want this to become a typical "white knight rescues damsel in distress and they live happily ever after" fic. I am really hoping that it won't…I certainly have it planned out that way. So I hope you continue to join me on this ride I'm taking you on. Because really…what would Hawaii Five-0 be without a little drama and adventure? **_

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><p><strong>Chapter 15 – Gone<strong>

"_Sometimes, when one person is missing, the whole world seems depopulated."_

~ Lamartine

_Harper James' hotel room, two hours later…_

"Harper!"

No answer.

"Harper Elizabeth James, open this damn door!"

More silence.

Steve was starting to get pissed. He had been standing outside her hotel room door for a good five minutes and he was tired of her game. She may not want to talk to him right now but leaving him out in the hallway was just childish.

"Jimmy, c'mon!" the Commander pleaded, pounding on the door once again. "Open the door!"

He knew she was in there because he could hear her Sarah McLachlan music playing at top volume, which was probably annoying her neighbors. And Sarah McLachlan was the music she played when she wanted to chill out…he knew that because it was playing a lot in their house at the end of their marriage. Plus, he had been dragged to more of this woman's concerts than he wanted to admit.

"Jimmy, don't be stubborn about this! I'm not going away!"

Steve sighed, leaning his body against the door frame and staring at the wooden door. Why was she doing this? He waited another twenty seconds, then shouted, "I'm giving you ten seconds, then I swear, I'm kicking this door in!"

As he paused again and leaned his head against the door, he suddenly smelled burning tomato sauce. And then a feeling began to creep into the pit of his stomach and it wasn't good. Something was wrong. Harper took great care in preparing that sauce…he hadn't even been allowed to wander into the kitchen when she was making 'Grandma Angie's sauce'. She would never let it burn.

He grasped the bronze handle of the door and jerked it up and down. Damn electronic keypads. Drawing his gun from the holster at his hip, Steve threw all of his weight into a single, well aimed kick and broke through the door, the automatic yell of "Hawaii Five-0" falling from his lips. As soon as he opened the door, he sensed it, like a biting breeze on a still winter's morning, piercing the air with its horrifying chill. The sense of dread was insurmountable.

His eyes did a preliminary sweep of the room but the moonlight peeking in through the curtains supplied the only light except for the blue flame licking out from underneath the pot of sauce on the cooktop.

"Harper!" Steve shouted, flipping on the nearest light switch, "Jimmy, where are you? Answer me!"

But there was no answer from his ex-wife. He moved over to the sound system portal and turned off the music as he surveyed the relic of the hotel room. Furniture was turned over, the french doors leading to the balcony were wide open, a lamp had been knocked to the floor, and a single sandal – identifiably Harper's – was lying in the middle of the floor. Whoever had been there was looking for something…and found Harper instead.

And that was when he saw the blood.

Rushing over to the spot where the living room met the hallway back to the bedroom, Steve's heart filled with dread as he saw that halfway up the wall was a crack in the plaster and a splattering of blood.

Whatever had hit the spot had hit it hard.

"Harper!" he shouted again and although the rage was almost too much to bear, the ex-S.E.A.L. was cautious as he walked down the hall toward the bedroom, gun drawn, listening for something, anything. Entering the small room, he noticed that the suit and camisole she had been wearing earlier that day were thrown haphazardly across the bed and her boots were kicked off near the chair. He could smell her perfume as it hung in the air and Steve could feel his heart clench in his chest. After clearing the bedroom, the closet, and the adjoining bathroom, Steve made his way back into the living area of the hotel room. There were no other signs of violence, which indicated that if there was a problem, it occurred out in the living room.

The furrow on Steve's already creased brow deepened as he wandered over to the kitchenette and absentmindedly turned off the burner under the sauce pot and called one last time, "Jimmy?"

Useless.

She wasn't there.

"Where are you, Jimmy girl?" he whispered into the dark emptiness of the hotel room. "What's happened to you?"

Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he quickly dialed the first number in his speed dial and waited until he heard his partner ask groggily, "Do you know that it's nearly one o'clock in the morning?"

"I need you to call Chin and Kono and get down to the Marriott Residence Hotel right away," Steve barked into the phone, "And wake up a crime scene team."

The Marriott Residence Hotel was where Harper was staying and Danny could tell from edge in Steve's voice that something major was going down, so he sat straight up and asked, "What's going on?"

"Harper's gone."

"What do you mean…gone?"

"I came by to talk to her and her hotel room is empty…"

"We don't know if anything has happened, Steve…" Danny tried to reason with his friend, but the Commander was having none of it.

"The room has been ransacked and there is blood on the wall."

Steve could hear Danny draw in a deep breath before he said, "I'll be there in fifteen minutes."

He made it in ten.

Stepping through the broken door that Steve had kicked in, Danny looked at his partner, rolled his eyes and asked, "You couldn't have gotten a manager or something to open the door?"

"There wasn't time.

An obviously distraught Steve McGarrett came down the hall toward his partner as he spoke. The once put together detective looked like he had been hit by a Mac truck…his shirt was untucked from his cargo pants, his hair looked as if he had run his hands through it a million times in the last hour, and he couldn't mask the fear in his eyes. Seeing that Danny had arrived alone, he asked, "Where are Chin and Kono?"

"Kono arrived just before I did and she is downstairs talking to hotel security," Danny reported dutifully, "And Chin is about five minutes out."

Seemingly satisfied with the answer, he nodded and said, "Everything in the bedroom is pretty much undisturbed, so the living room is our crime scene. We've got blood on the wall in the hallway."

"Blood?"

"Over there," Steve said, pointing toward, but not looking directly at, the area where Harper's face connected with the wall. Danny looked at his partner carefully before stepping over to examine the blood smear on the wall. Steve was entirely too calm. For a guy who hung people off buildings and threw them in shark infested waters, his overly professional attitude was a tad eerie.

"I think we may have a print in the blood over here," Danny said, taking out his phone and taking a close up photo of the blood smear, "I'll send this to Jenna…I told her to go open up the office. The forensics guys can take a sample to the lab to see if it's Harper's. It's about her height, but that doesn't really mean anything. She's a fighter, so she could have easily…"

"The governor called in the Feds," Steve interrupted, causing Danny to turn around and look at him, "We're not using Honolulu PD for this one. If Wo Fat is involved, he has an inside guy at HPD."

"Wo Fat?" the New Jersey detective asked, "We're going there right away?"

"She went after the boys of the Yakuza and Wilson Crips pretty hard yesterday while we were doing our interviews," Chin Ho stated, walking into the room and surveying their latest crime scene. His voice trailed off and he got a sickened look on his face as he moved over to Steve and asked, "You okay to do this, boss?"

But his boss awkwardly walked away from him and stepped out onto the balcony as he said in a strained voice, "It looks like the struggle began out here. The deck chair is turned over and her wine glass smashed when it hit the tile. We know she fought back so…"

"Unless he drugged her wine and incapacitated her," Chin interrupted, motioning to the broken glass on the patio, "We don't know how long she may have been in the room with her attacker."

Swallowing hard and sharing a knowing look with Danny, the tall detective looked at his boss cautiously and asked slowly, "Could she have met someone and brought him back up here…?"

"No," Steve interrupted, shaking his head vigorously, "she wouldn't do that. And she wouldn't have let a stranger into her hotel room. Jimmy's too smart for that."

"Jenna's got something for us," Danny informed them, holding his phone out so that his partners could hear, "Jenna, you're on speaker with Steve, Chin, and I."

"I got a positive match to the print Danny found on the wall," Jenna told them through the phone, "It belongs to a Hiroshi Hidaka, originally from North Korea. And he is no stranger to local law enforcement…he's been collared for drug trafficking and money laundering since he's been in Hawaii, but before he brought his activity to the island he was arrested in New York for collecting finders fees from big time mafiosos and businessmen. Apparently, he was the go-to guy for guiding Japanese tourists to illegal gambling establishments."

"Drug trafficking, illegal gambling…sounds like some of the Yakuza's favorite activities to me," Danny surmised, "And since we have been able to tie the Wilson Crips to the Yakuza…"

"All roads lead back to Wo Fat," Steve agreed.

Chin also agreed with a nod and stated, "I'll grab some guys from HPD and start knocking down doors…"

"No, we're not using HPD."

"The governor called in the Feds…" Danny started to explain, but Steve cut him off.

"We're not bringing the Feds in on this either," he stated abruptly, pulling out his phone. "They're going to be more worried about their investigation into the Yakuza than they will be about finding Harper."

"We can't do this without some kind of back up," Detective Kelly reasoned, "We need somebody…"

Shaking his head, Steve answered, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think the only person we can trust right now is Mickey James."

Danny's eyes widened as he exclaimed, "Whoah…we're bringing Big Daddy in on this one? Are you sure that is a good idea?"

"Good idea or not, I've already called him and he'll be on the next flight from the mainland," his partner informed him, heading toward the door, "And while we're waiting for him, nobody rests. Nobody. We kick in every door, leave no stone unturned until we get a lead on Harper. If Wo Fat wanted a war, he's got one."

"Where are you going?"

Without turning back to look at Danny or Chin, Steve continued out into the hallway as he answered, "To find my wife."


	16. Dangerous Games

_**I am so glad that so many of you are addicted to this story! I am really enjoying writing it and reading your reviews and I will try very hard to live up to your expectations. If I can get it down on paper (or a computer screen) the way it is playing out in my head, I think you will be very pleased!**_

_**I just threw that "To find my wife" line at the end of the last chapter as a last resort and I am so glad I did…you guys are great! For all of the Harper fans out there, buckle up because our girl is going to have a rough time for the next few chapters but I hope that it will make what is to come all the better! Once again, enjoy…**_

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><p><strong>Chapter 16 – Dangerous Games<strong>

_"Fear is an emotion indispensable for survival."_

~ Hannah Arendt

_Somewhere in Hawaii..._

Detective Harper James had the world's worst headache.

It started off behind her left temple, nothing more than a tickle underneath the skin and bone, but gradually became a pain that crept right across her brow and settled behind her eyes where no relief could reach.

She felt like hell. She had no idea where she was, or any reasonable recollection of how she got there. All she could sense was that wherever she was, it was dark, damp, and about as far from her comfortable hotel room as New Zealand was from Manhattan. But she was alive…and that was something, at least.

But she also knew to be afraid.

Harper slowly forced her eyes open and gave them a moment to adjust to her dimly lit surroundings.

A cave? A basement? A dungeon?

Pulling herself up off a dirty stone floor, she almost collapsed again from the lack of strength left in her limbs. Besides the throbbing in her head, her joints were stiff and painful, she ached all over, her throat was dry, and her tongue felt like it was in need of a shave.

The only light in the room was coming from two lanterns hung on either side of a bed that sat across the room. The walls were made of stone and caked dirt…as if she were in some sort of root cellar. And she was protected from the outside world by a huge wooden door that reminded Harper of a drawbridge. There was a small window a few feet above her, covered with bars.

Suddenly looking down at her own body, the redheaded detective realized that she was wearing a white negligee with lace trim around the bodice and a matching silken robe. Like something a bride would wear on her wedding night, she thought. It was clean and white and soft…a direct contrast to her filthy, stone surroundings.

Harper was beginning to feel more clearheaded and alert, more in command of herself. Except that she had lost track of time. She didn't know if it were morning, noon, or night. Or even what day it was.

The redheaded detective groaned again. Nothing was making sense.

It was as if she was walking a personified paradox…a simple evening at home had somehow turned into a kidnapping attempt from hell in a matter of moments. Something frightening had been born out of her routine. She remembered a struggle, an attack from behind, a cloth doused with ether, and a scream that may or may not have originated from her own vocal tissues echoed through her dazed memory. Then a word in a language she did not recognize, said with a command that turned everything black.

But before she could think about it any further, Harper heard the slightest creak in the floorboards and the door to her cell opened. Suddenly, someone that she recognized was standing right in front of her.

"I know you," she croaked out, squinting up at the young man who stood in the doorway, "I interviewed you with the Wilson Crips the other day…Michael something."

"Yes," he drawled, "Michael something."

"What's with the outfit?" the detective asked almost comically, gesturing down to the negligee that she was wearing. She suddenly realized that someone had to have stripped her of her shorts and tank top before dressing her in the ridiculous outfit, but Harper quickly put that thought out of her head. She couldn't go there. She wouldn't.

"Do you like it?" the young man asked, letting his eyes take a walk down her body, "I was the one who picked it out."

"You were in my hotel room," she whispered as her eyes darted past him and saw that he had left the door open behind him, "You drugged me."

"Not me," Michael answered with an amused shake of his head, "I ain't gotta drug my women to get into their hotel rooms. You must be thinking of someone else."

Harper James was a natural fighter. She was the daughter of a dedicated police officer and a strong, Italian woman. She was the younger sister of men who followed their father into all sorts of dangerous situations to save strangers. So her mind was willing her to go on the attack, to push away her oppressor as he came closer and run as fast as her legs would carry her…leave it all behind. Certainly her determination could outmatch his physical prowess. Whether her body just refused to cooperate on a basic feeling of fear or if her natural curiosity had transcended her waking thoughts, she couldn't say for sure.

Whatever it was, it was keeping her rooted to the spot. So instead, she asked, "What did you give me? Ethanol?"

"Told ya, it wasn't me."

"Who do you work for?" Harper demanded as if their roles were reversed and she was the one in full capacity of her senses and he was the one drugged on the floor, "Wo Fat?"

"You're a smart one, Detective James," came the answer. But it wasn't the voice of Michael Sugimoto. Out from behind the young gang member stepped a man that Harper had never seen before except in the photos Steve had shown her.

Wo Fat.

For reasons she didn't understand, Harper couldn't stop all of her muscles from twitching in fear. She'd been coaching herself to remain calm. To speak evenly and confidently when she finally came face to face with the man responsible for the murders of her partner and her in-laws. But her body betrayed her and the sight of him stepping into the room had a paralyzing affect that must have shown in her eyes. Smiling a smooth and dangerous smile, the criminal continued, "That's one of the reasons I picked you. Your intelligence. I appreciate that. I know most men don't…can't. But I'm different. You'll see that in time."

Wo Fat moved closer to her and Harper instinctively backed up. She felt her legs hit the edge of the makeshift bed and sat down in surprise as he continued, "Your ex-husband certainly didn't. He didn't appreciate the things I like best about you. He lied to you. Abandoned you. Made a fool out of you. You shouldn't have married for physical reasons, Harper. Good looks, muscles, sex…they all fail you in the end. Didn't your father teach you that?"

"How do you know my father?"

"The infamous Mickey James?" he asked, the sound of her father's name on his lips turning her stomach. "Who doesn't know Mickey James?"

Harper swallowed the fear in her throat and asked in a shaky breath, "Why did you do this? You have to know that taking me isn't going to accomplish anything."

Wo Fat squatted down in front of where Harper was forced to sit on the bed, her legs pulled close her body and drawled, "How do you know what I'm trying to accomplish?"

He had her there. She had no idea what she was doing there as his captive, but she was going to find out.

"You killed my partner, Detective First Grade Samuel Jameson Norval of the Chicago Police Department," she hissed at him, "What did that accomplish except to leave two children without their father?"

"Feisty," her captor drawled with a wicked smile, "that must have been what Commander McGarrett saw in you. Don't worry, Jimmy, everything has a purpose and all will be revealed in due time…"

How did he know her nickname?

But Harper didn't have time to think on that for too long because her eyes trailed down to see him taking something out of his back pocket.

"…but for now, you should get some rest. You are going to need your strength."

The detective realized too late that it was a syringe in his hand and she backed up toward the head of the bed as he reached for her and purred, "Don't fight me, Harper. I know you are trained, I know you are strong…but none of that will do you any good now."

The redhead ignored his warning and kicked at him with her bare feet, but he was too strong. Grabbing her ankle in one of his large hands, he stabbed her left thigh and injected her with some sort of drug.

"No!" she screamed. "Aaah! My God! What was that…"

"You're in my house now, Detective James, and I need to tell you the rules," the criminal whispered softly, pulling her closer to him. She tried to fight back, but whatever he had given her worked fast. All of the strength drained from her limbs and she went limp on the bed. Leaning over her lifeless body, Wo Fat brought his face down close to her ear and whispered, "I know you don't like rules, but I need you to take what I say very seriously, all right? I am not crazy. Or out of control. Actually, I am quite the opposite. Most people don't know what they want, but I do. I know exactly what I want. And the way to get it…is you."

His breath was hot and foul as it tickled her ear. Smiling wickedly, he continued, "It is important that you know how important you are to me. You are almost as important to me as you are to Commander McGarrett. That is why you are completely safe here and I will try to make your stay as comfortable as possible. But you must play by my rules. And the most important rule is that you must never try to escape. I saw you look at the door and I know what you were thinking. If you try, you will be executed within hours, however painful that will be for me. There can be no reprieve following an escape attempt."

Hot tears involuntarily welled up behind Harper's eyes and her mind was beginning to go fuzzy again. Whatever he had injected her with rendered her paralyzed first and then began to play tricks on her subconscious.

Date rape drug?

"I will cut that beautiful face of yours and you will no longer be able to charm every male who crosses your path. Instead, you will horrify them," Wo Fat continued as Harper fought with all of her might to keep hold of her senses. But it was a losing battle. The drug coursing through her nervous system was stronger than she was. "Do you understand? I don't want to hurt you, Detective. You see, this isn't really about you at all. It's about them. And you just happened to get caught in the middle."

And as the darkness finally took her, the true reality of their situation began to set in. She was a pawn in whatever deadly game this psychopath was playing. A game that had already claimed the lives of Sammy and Steve's parents.

A game that was going to be worse than Harper or any of them had ever imagined.


	17. Family is Family is Family

_**Sorry for the delay, dear readers! I hate it when life gets in the way of fanfic writing! **_

_**I used some of my favorite lines from the series and repurposed them here in this chapter as I felt they were appropriate. And as I was writing this chapter I began referring to it as the "Tom Selleck meets Alex O'Loughlin" chapter. The ladies of the world may all begin to swoon now…I know I sure did! But since I have Tom Selleck in my head when writing this, I just don't have the heart to make him angry and snarky. I have the urge to make him dignified and sad, so I gave him a son to do the snarky angriness for him. No actor in my head, so create whoever you want.**_

_**Enjoy…**_

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><p><strong>Chapter 17 – Family is Family is Family<strong>

"_The thing about family disasters is that you never have to wait long before the next one puts the previous one into perspective."_

~Robert Brault

_Back at Five-0 Headquarters, later that evening…_

"Do you feel better now?"

Danny jogged a few steps to catch up with his partner as the two men walked down the hallway toward the Five-0 bullpen. They had just come from "interviewing" the members of the Wilson Crips at their local hangout, the aftermath of which now caused Steve to begin flexing his right hand. The hand which he had used to "coerce" information from the gang members.

"What?" the Commander asked tersely, obviously distracted and obviously not paying the least bit of attention to his chatty partner.

"You know, now that you got to crack a few gang bangers heads and threaten to shoot your big gun?" Danny cracked, referring to the last few hours of their lives.

"No, I don't feel better," Steve replied angrily, obviously not getting the joke, "We got nothing useful out of those punks and…"

"Well maybe if you hadn't seized that one kid by his feet and dangled him out the 3rd story window, we could have gotten more information," the New Jersey detective suggested, only half joking this time, "I don't know, I'm just saying. It's just a thought."

His partner caught the tone in his voice that time and slid his blue eyes over to look at Danny and drawled, "Thanks for the back up by the way."

"Back up?" Danny asked incredulously, "What was I supposed to do?"

The calm, cool, professional Steve McGarrett from earlier that morning had left the building by about 7:00 a.m. and a much more aggressive ex-husband had clearly taken his place. Danny knew all about ex-wives and the complications that they come with, but when it came to Steve and Harper the detective deduced that something more was going on. Something very much unfinished…

Shaking his head in disgust, Steve stated flatly, "I should have known you would be useless to me in there…"

"Useless?" Danny croaked, knowing that Steve needed someone to blame for their extreme lack of evidence in this investigation and knowing for the time being it was going to be him, "You were holding that guy's head so close to an open flame that his skin was beginning to blister…"

"Those guys were Yakuza middle men," Steve explained, "They were only going to talk under fear of death…"

"Fear of death?" Detective Williams repeated, hands flailing around, "People will tell you anything under fear of death. That doesn't make it true! And we didn't get any information out of them anyway. They had no idea where Michael Sugimoto had disappeared to."

"I don't believe for a second that Sugimoto is the only member of the Wilson Crips associated with Wo Fat," the Navy S.E.A.L. argued, opening up the glass doors that led into the Five-0 headquarters, "We need to go higher up the food chain."

"Trust me, if they had known anything else it would have come out when you began waterboarding them in the tub…"

Steve shot his partner a death glare as he reminded him forcefully, "These guys live their lives under fear of death. They spend their free time thinking up ways to torture their associates in much worse ways than what I did today. I didn't do anything that…"

"Look," Danny interrupted, pulling his partner to a stop just inside the entrance to the bullpen, "I know that this is personal for you. It's personal for the rest of us, too. She's a cop and your ex-wife. But we can't start jumping to 'worst possible scenario' mode because that is not going to help anyone."

"I should have seen this coming…" Steve said, shaking his head and only half listening to his partner's words of reason.

"You should have seen what coming?" the detective asked, raising his eyebrows, "A kidnapping? Who was going to kidnap her? The only person that she managed to piss off on the island was you."

"The minute that we realized Wo Fat was involved, I should have backed Harper the hell off of this case," the Commander explained, the guilt written all over his face, "I know what she's like when she's in investigation mode…she's a pain in the ass. More so than usual. And because it was personal to her…because it was about finding out who killed Sammy…she went digging around, sniffing out the connection between Wo Fat, the Yakuza, and the Wilson Crips. For all I know right now…"

"You don't know anything right now," Danny cut him off quickly, "Harper is a good detective and a very smart woman…."

"Danny they took her," Steve reminded him quietly, "She probably saw their faces…"

"But we don't know why they took her," Danny argued, "They could have taken her because she had information about her partner's shooting that is valuable to them somehow. That's good. That could keep her alive…"

"The last person Wo Fat took was my father," his partner interrupted, "And whatever he knew was of no use to them so he was of no use to them." Drawing in a long breath, Steve continued in a desperate voice, "I know her, Danny, and I know that she would rather die than to cooperate with a criminal. She sees the world in black and white, right and wrong…just like my dad." Shaking his head, the stoic man allowed himself a moment of vulnerability as he told Danny forcefully, "She can't end up like my dad."

"She won't," Danny assured him, "With your dad, you were a million miles away. You're a lot closer this time. Wo Fat is playing in our backyard this time…"

"Hey boss, I think we got something."

Steve and Danny ceased their conversation when they heard Kono's voice welcome them into the bullpen and finally walked over to where she and Chin were waiting near the computer table.

"What happened to your hand?" Kono asked, looking at the bruises that were welling up on Steve's knuckles.

"That's his interrogation hand," Danny explained with a smirk, crossing his arms over his chest, "And he asked a lot of questions today."

"Ah," Kono said with a knowing smile. And then her face turned serious and she avoided looking at her boss as she told them, "We got the lab results back from the tests they ran on the blood at the crime scene. It was a positive match to Harper and it contained trace amounts of a tranquilizer called Ketamine."

"He drugged her," Steve deduced, looking over the report.

"Isn't Ketamine being used by some sexual offenders as the new date rape drug?" Danny asked, trying to avoid the weirdness. And it wasn't just in the conference room. An eerie sense of urgency and dread had settled throughout the entire building as news of the Chicago detective's abduction had made its way through the grapevine.

"Yes," Chin supplied quickly, "Ketamine is a substance abused for its hallucinogenic features, and is commonly marketed as an odorless, colorless liquid. Easy to conceal in drinks…"

"Like Harper's wine," Kono suggested.

"She wouldn't have let him in her hotel room," Steve told them again, shaking his head in denial, "I'm not wrong about that." Drawing in a deep breath, he admitted to his team, "She was having some family drama last night and then she and I got into a…fight. She was angry, she was confused, she was hurt. But she did not go out on the prowl for some guy to take back to her hotel room. I'm telling you…I know her. She's in cop mode 24/7. There is no way that Harper James let this guy into her hotel room or close enough to her glass for him to drug her that way."

"Colorless, odorless…maybe he doused a cloth with this Ketamine stuff and snuck up behind her," Danny suggested, the wheels turning in that cop brain of his, "We are assuming that the attack began out on the balcony so Harper could have been out there looking at the water, sipping on her Pinot…"

"Viognier," Steve corrected.

"What the hell is a Viognier?"

"Viognier is white wine from the Southern region in France along the Rhone river vallery," came the answer.

But the answer did not come from Steve. It came from a much deeper voice from somewhere behind them, causing all four members of Five-0 to turn and see a distinguished older gentleman and a younger man who could have been his twin make their way into the station. Both men bore tense, strained expressions on ruggedly handsome faces that had probably seen too many nights like these in their illustrious careers.

But this time, for these men, it was personal.

Without skipping a beat, Mickey James finished his explanation by saying, "My daughter doesn't drink Pinot, so she would have been out on the balcony sipping on Viogner."

"Superintendent," Steve greeted his former father-in-law and then turned to the younger man and said just as stiffly, "Lieutenant."

"Commander," they both replied in unison.

"Family reunions like this always give me such a warm and fuzzy feeling all over," Danny joked, trying to ease the tension and then because he simply couldn't help himself, he extended his hand toward Mickey James and quipped, "Nice to meet you face to face, Big Daddy."

Kono winced and Chin bit his bottom lip at the detective's statement, but the Superintendent didn't even bat an eyelash as he replied, "Likewise, Little Detective."

As his teammates tried to contain their laughter, Steve quickly stepped in to make the introductions, saying, "Mickey, Frank, these are the members of the Hawaii Five-0 task force…Detective Chin Ho Kelly, Officer Kono Kalakaua, and my partner, Detective Danny Williams. Guys, this is Harper's father...Chicago Police Superintendent Mickey James and his son Lieutenant Frank James."

"I thought there were four brothers," Danny inquired, reaching out to shake Frank's extended hand.

"There are," the eldest James answered, shaking hands all around, "But I was the only one available on such short notice. If we don't find Harper within a 48 hours, Bobby and Tommy will be on the first flight out here."

"And the fourth?"

Danny noticed Steve looking down at the floor as Mickey replied dutifully, "My son Vincent was killed in the line of duty six years ago."

"I'm sorry," Danny replied honestly.

Frank and Mickey simply nodded at the condolences before the Superintendent looked over at the New Jersey detective and said, "I believe we interrupted your theory of the case, Detective. Please continue."

Looking around at the two newcomers and trying to ignore the strange turn of events, Danny continued, "Well…so at the crime scene we had determined that Harper's struggle with her attacker began on her hotel room balcony. I was just saying that she was probably sipping on her _**Viognier**_ when they guy came up behind her and overtook her…"

"How could that happen?" Frankie interrupted, letting his eyes wander over the screen full of evidence that the team had collected, "I mean, Harper's a good cop…probably the best out of all of us. She was raised by cops. She knows how to protect herself, to be aware of her surroundings. She's got a cop's instincts…"

"She was distracted," Steve told him, careful not to look at Mickey. He didn't know exactly how much the Superintendent may have told his sons about the events of the previous night and he certainly didn't want to open a new can of worms, so he added, "And she was angry at the lack of evidence in the case."

Frankie, who had been briefed about the case by his father and Jenna Kaye on the plane, turned on his former brother in law and raged, "So you just let her go home? Unprotected?" The Chicago cop completely lost his cool as he accused, "This underworld crime boss that you linked to Sammy's death knows what Harper looks like, knows she's out to bring him down, is out there walking the streets of Hawaii, and you let my sister go home without a protection detail?"

"I didn't LET Harper do anything!" Steve shouted back, running his hands through his unruly hair and glaring at Harper's big brother. "She was angry and frustrated and…you know better than anyone that you can't make Harper do anything she doesn't want to do. And even if I had assigned her a protection officer, she would have rebelled against him…"

"Or fallen in love with him," Frankie interrupted snidely.

"Alright, that's enough," Mickey stepped in quickly, physically placing himself between the two men before the argument became physical. Turning toward his son, the Superintendent said in a steely voice, "Francis, I know you're upset, but there is a lot of that going around right now. No matter what your feelings are about Steve, he was her husband. So if we're going try and rely on any one of us being the level headed one, we're going have some problems."

"You're defending him?" Frankie asked in disbelief.

"No," his father answered quickly, not once looking over at Steve, "But I'm not blaming him either."

"We believe that the attacker most likely drugged her," Chin stepped in to answer Frank James' original question and get the conversation back on point, studying the two men from Chicago carefully with his intense, dark eyes. "We found Ketamine in the blood at the scene. And he must have surprised her while she was relaxing with a glass of wine, where she was at her most vulnerable. You're right, guys…Harper is a well trained police officer, so the element of surprise and a tranquilizer were the only way he could have been guaranteed to overpower her."

"Blood?"

Kono pursed her lips and made the split second decision to pull up the crime scene photo to show them. They were cops and had the right to know the reality of the situation they were walking into. Pulling the photos up on the big screen, she explained, "Harper's blood was found on this wall…"

"He cracked the wall with her skull?" Frankie asked, becoming more enraged by the second. "That son of a bitch!"

"She put up a fight…"

"And lost," Mickey James deduced quietly, carefully studying the crime scene photos but specifically refusing to look at the one that showcased the cracked wall and the splattering of his daughter's blood.

"Once the drug was in her system, sir, she would have been disoriented." Steve offered quietly, "No amount of training was going to help her."

"But not something from the Benzodiazepine family," Kono informed them, pulling up a search she had run on tranquilizer drugs, "Not unless it was administered in a large dose. And a dose that large would have shocked her system and probably killed her instantly. If this son of a bitch wanted her alive, my guess would be he used some sort of anesthetic. Chloroform or ether, maybe? Sometimes they can be confused for Ketamine in tox screenings."

"Chloroform, Ether, Ketamine…so he has access to pharmaceuticals." Chin deduced and then asked, "But how could have gotten her out of a 5th floor hotel room without anyone noticing until we got there and started asking questions?"

"He's got someone from the hotel on his payroll," Mickey agreed, studying the photograph of the kicked in door, "It's how he got inside the room without alerting Harper."

"I know the assistant manager at the hotel," Kono informed the group, "We went to school together."

"Do you trust him?" The Superintendent asked, regarding her for the first time since his arrival. The young woman wasn't even as old as his daughter, but there was something in her eyes that made him believe that she was an effective part of the Five-0 taskforce. He recognized that look she had…he had instilled it in Harper.

When Kono nodded, Steve commanded, "Get back over there and get a list of hotel employees and…"

"…speak only to this man you trust since we don't know whose playing on which side," Mickey finished for him, nodding to the young officer.

"I'll go with you," Frankie offered, looking over at Kono, "I want to see the crime scene for myself." Looking around at the team, he added, "You know, fresh eyes." Pausing to let his gaze linger on Steve, he bit out, "Brother's eyes. Eyes that have been around for the last seven years."

Steve did his best to ignore the comment and Danny found himself opening his mouth to interject on his partner's behalf. But he closed it again as he witnessed the comical sight of Frankie looking to his father and Kono looking to Steve and both men nodding in approval.

_No wonder Harper fell in love with Steve,_ Danny mused with a funny grin on his face, _he was very much like her father._

But the detective snapped back to attention when his partner addressed him, saying, "Chin and Danny, run a search of pharmaceutical distributors on the island. I want a list of anyone who may have recently purchased large doses of Ketamine, Chloroform or Ether. Then run it against the list Kono and Harper complied of the Wilson Crips members. When you find a match…"

"We know, we know," Danny mused as he and Chin headed off to their desks, "Start knocking down doors."

Entering the new information onto the evidence computer screen, Steve found himself standing next to Mickey James…who had wandered away from the group to glance at the picture of Detective Samuel Norval his daughter had placed front and center on the board so that everyone remembered why they were here. Thankfully, no one had dared to post her picture next to her former partner's. It would have been too much for any father to stomach.

"I apologize if I overstepped my bounds by giving orders to your young officer," Mickey apologized, never looking up from the photo. "Don't worry, I'm not going to muscle my way in on this case." Muttering more to himself than to the tall S.E.A.L., he added under his breath, "I've already been warned."

"I wasn't worried." Steve told him, causing the skeptical superintendent to look over and study him for a moment.

"Thank you for not disclosing our earlier conversation to Frankie," the older man added, "It was a conversation I didn't want to have with him after telling him that his sister had been kidnapped."

"I understand."

"And thank you for calling me to come down here," he continued, the defeat and jet lag evident in his gruff voice, "I know you must hate me…"

"I don't hate you," Steve informed him softly and then added, "And neither does Harper."

The Superintendent was quiet for a moment as he regarded the man he had trained himself to dislike for so long. The look he gave Steve was skeptical. But before he said anything, he turned back to the photograph of Detective Samuel Norval.

"When we lost Sammy, it was like losing Sophia and Vinnie all over again," Superintendent James said softly, referring to his late wife and son, "Another funeral. Another grave. Another life ended before it really began. It makes you question why we continue to do this, why we live our lives under such dangerous circumstances. And now Harper…" his voice trailed off as he shook his head and avoided looking directly at Steve, continuing, "She's so damn stubborn, you know? I think she pisses off as many people as she helps these days...it's a family trait, I'm afraid. She comes by it honestly. Having a daughter scared me to death. I didn't know what the hell to do with a baby girl. But she had me wrapped around her finger from day one." Finally, looking over at his former son in law, he explained, "Not that it made me any smarter about raising a daughter...I treated her like one of the boys while she was growing up. Sophia was the soft touch and after she died…I did the best I could."

"You did one hell of a job," Steve assured him earnestly.

Shaking his head and showing a brief moment of vulnerability, Mickey asked, "If I did such a good job...how the hell did we get here? I mean, I raised her to be tough, independent…it was all I knew. I always figured that she could handle it. She could handle anything. But last night, she told me that I had ruined her life." Pausing to pull himself together, he added gruffly, "All I ever wanted to do was protect her. And now…"

"We're going to find her, Superintendent."

"She's my little girl," Mickey reminded him and then admitted, "I know I have no right to ask anything of you, but I need your help to find my girl." Blinking back tears that he would never shed in front of anyone, he whispered, "She's all we've got left."

"Sir," Steve said earnestly, his heart breaking in his chest, "you should know that when it comes to Harper, I take it quite personally."

Mickey looked up at the Commander and then nodded as he said, "Yes, I know you do." Pausing, the distraught father then said in a stronger voice full of emotion, "You bring her home, Commander. You bring our girl home."

Clapping a strong hand of support on Mickey's shoulder, Steve promised, "I will."

"I know."


	18. Out of the Darkness

_**Hang on for Big Secret #2. I think I have kept this one pretty much under wraps. Again, I will hold my comments until the beginning of the next chapter...but try to stay with me until I can explain things! Here we go...**_

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><p><strong>Chapter 18 – Out of the Darkness<strong>

_"When you come to the end of all the light you know, and it's time to step into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing that one of two things shall happen: either you will be given something solid to stand on or you will be taught to fly."_

~Barbara J. Winter

**_Chicago, Illinois, ten years ago…_**

_Naval Lt. Commander Steve McGarrett ran through the park, pulling the collar of his coat up around his neck and tried to duck the falling raindrops. It was no use. Why she had chosen to take this short cut through the park, he would never know. But now they were late and wet. And he was none too happy. _

_Where the hell was that woman?_

_He had been assigned to protect Harper James five months ago and it had been the strangest five months of his life. She was hard headed, stubborn, difficult to reason with, and an all around pain in his ass. And she resented his presence in her life. But when she wasn't being difficult, Steve was fascinated by her. Maybe it was the red hair. Or the full lips. Or the tight…_

_It was then that he saw her, off to the left, all alone in the clearing. _

_Dancing in the rain. _

_Steve had to smirk to himself at the sight of the always professional Detective Harper James twirling like a schoolgirl in the rain. And enjoying every minute of it. The Lt. Commander stopped where he was, closed his eyes, and turned his face up to the downpour. Several moments passed as he let the rain spatter on his face, and then he leveled those blue eyes at her again._

_He stood there watching her as Harper danced to nature's music, unaware at how drenched in water she was. She twirled and moved her arms as if she were an angel in the heavens; as if there was a wondrous meaning to life. She turned at that moment, eyes closed, so that he could see her face. Although rain fell upon her beautiful face, he saw tears forming in her eyes and falling down her cheeks. A jolt of pain hit his heart as he thought about the complete happiness and complete sadness that consumed her at the same time._

"_What are you doing?" Steve finally called out, startling Harper out of her daydream. _

_She stopped mid-twirl, her eyes flying open, and faced Steve. She was completely embarrassed at having him see her like that, but there was no way to back out of it now. So, she simply said, "I'm dancing with my dad."_

"_In the rain?"_

"_Well, I can't dance with him in real life. He doesn't dance anymore." A fresh batch of tears threatened to trickle down her cheeks and she just let them fall. Her face was wet from the rain and he probably couldn't tell the difference. "We used to dance in the rain all the time when I was little. I felt so alive and I..."_

"_...wanted to capture a little of that feeling again?" He finished for her. Things had been complicated between Harper and her father, Superintendent Mickey James, over the last few months. She resented that he had hired Steve to protect her and he could not see why she was fighting him over it. He refused to discuss it with her anymore, so they had simply stopped speaking altogether._

"_My dad used to say that life doesn't end at the doors of the police precinct, Commander," she told him with a smile. "You know what they say - this isn't a dress rehearsal."_

"_I think I've heard that," Steve chuckled and moved toward her. "You know, my mom taught me when I was little, that if you dance when it's pouring down rain with someone you care about, or a close friend, and make a wish… it comes true." _

"_But you're the only one here," Harper teased, liking the way he looked all wet, with his hair plastered to his forehead._

"_So, pretend that we're friends," he said, opening his arms and taking a step forward with a wide grin on his face, "Come on, let's dance." _

_He grabbed both of her hands and with their hands clasped, Steve stepped up to Harper and unlinked one of his hands from hers, placing it around her waist. She slipped her hand up to his shoulder and soon they were slow dancing in the rain. It poured down and they were both laughing, just moving together like they didn't know they could._

_Steve led the dance, pulling the redhead closer to him. A warm sensation went through his veins at being so close to her. Then Harper released their interlocked fingers and wrapped her arms around his neck, smiling. Steve smiled back, holding her tight with both of his arms around her now._

"_I had no idea you were such a great dancer," the detective mused._

"_There are a lot of things you don't know about me," Steve admitted, chuckling. "Besides, dancing is like sex only you do it standing up. So, I, of course..."_

_Harper rolled her eyes and said, "Please! Could you spare me the tales of your sexual prowess for just one evening?" Steve agreed with a grin and the rain seemed to ease up slightly as they danced around in circles, left and right and back and forth. _

"_Made your wish yet?" The S.E.A.L. asked, looking down at her. _

_Harper smiled, closed her eyes and then after a few moments, she opened them again, "Done."_

"_What did you wish for?"_

"_If I told you, then I risk it not coming true." _

"_When it comes true, will you tell me then?"_

_Harper considered his request for a moment and said, "Deal." _

_He grinned, leading her in a twirl, the water splashing beneath their feet, rain falling harder again._

"_I feel so… alive!" She shouted to him over the sound of the rain. Steve laughed, letting go of her, allowing her go out on her own twirling once again, which was beginning to make her dizzy. Harper spun around and around several times, finally stopping, hunched over with her hands on her knees as she tried to settle her head from the dizzy spell that hit her. She was still laughing, even when Steve walked up to her, helping her get steady on her feet._

"_I think we've had enough for one night. It's late…" he said, gazing up toward the sky. _

_The smile on Harper's face partly faded, "Not yet, Steven. I just don't want this to end." _

_He stood there and watched her for a minute and then realized that he was much more than fascinated with this amazing woman. It wasn't simply physical…it wasn't the red hair or the full lips or anything else. It was all of it. All of her. He loved her. The realization hit him like a freight train and before he could stop himself he blurted out the only words that popped into his head…_

"_Marry me?"_

"_What?" she asked turning toward him with a surprised look on her face._

"_You heard me," he told her with a grin and then repeated, "Marry me!"_

"_When?"_

"_Tomorrow?"_

"_I have to work tomorrow," she told him, putting her hand on her hip and cocking her head to the side. He knew she was trying to find out if this was some sort of a joke, so she said coyly, "But I'm off on Thursday."_

"_Then marry me on Thursday."_

_Unable to stop himself, Steve pulled her into his arms again and Harper tried to catch the breath that had been taken from her. He placed a finger under her chin, raising her face to view his. She was truly beautiful. As their lips met in a kiss that would be treasured for eternity, the rain began to beat harder upon them. Deepening the kiss, Harper placed her arms around his neck, feeling the passion burn within her soul. _

_They were laughing when they pulled apart. Needing no words for the moment, they held on to each other and ran for shelter, suspecting that a kiss in the rain was just the beginning…_

Harper James shuddered awake on the bed in a dungeon somewhere in Hawaii. The memory of the night Steve had asked her to marry him was simply that…a memory. Her mind was playing tricks on her. He wasn't there. They weren't back in Chicago. They weren't falling in love.

She was alone.

Wo Fat and his accomplice were gone.

Time and space seemed completely alien entities to her at that moment, the blanket unfamiliar below her aching fingertips as she struggled to her feet, her whole body shivering with a sense of dread and unknown doom. Was it all a dream?

No, she told herself said firmly, it was definitely not a dream.

The thought of never seeing Steve again was too much to bear. No more kisses. No more arguments. No more fiery looks shared between them. They had been given a second chance and then it was ripped away from her without any warning. A heart wrenching sob…one of complete devastation, desperation and pure and utter torment escaped her throat. It was the type of inhumane sound that caused people standing by to plug up their ears, wrench out a pain of their own and try to soothe out the agony that caused it.

Her legs were heavy as she dragged herself over to the heavy wooden door that encased within their grace her freedom and her sanity. She enclosed one of the metal bars from the small window in the palm of her hand, feeling its coldness secure itself to her flesh like ice, sticking right there and refusing to let go. Refusing to let her go.

And then she began to think.

Thinking was always a dangerous occupation. She had spent too much time thinking in the past, and that realization alone pushed her to the edge of madness, having to reconsider every little step she'd made and analyze its purpose. But she had to think, make herself think.

Harper breathed out again, the air that escaped easily defined from the dungeon draught by its warmth and vibrancy upon her paling skin. It was a shaky sigh, one that personified the doubt that eclipsed her mind at that moment. Everything depended on her.

So she listened.

She didn't know what she was listening for, but it was the only prompt she ever relied on. The whistling of the wind was often a muse, whispering ideas into her receptacle brain that she'd long to get down on paper before they evaporated into the unstable air, rejoining the natural forces that caused such rage in inspiration. But the wind was whispering fear. It whisked around the stone walls of whatever abode she was in like a circus trainer whipping a bear, causing moans of anguish that didn't seem possible in the human sphere of ability. She wondered from whom they originated, and felt her stomach churn as it dawned on her that she may not be alone in this prison. Someone else could have been captured before her, possibly just feet away. Separated by stone and dirt. They were close.

Close. The thought suddenly dawned on her.

"Hello?"

The loudness of her voice was startling for an instant, in the context of nothing being able to halt its echoes as the sound of her cry gradually filled the empty cavern. She held her breath, not daring to release it again in case she missed the smallest of replies, the smallest of murmers, of hope.

"Is anyone out there?"

_Tap_.

Her heart ceased to beat for an instant, too aware of every creak to take in the necessity of living. She listened again.

_Tap tap tap._ Pause. _Tap tap tap._

Harper smiled in spite of herself. A broad, wide grin that wasn't the emblem of unsuitable happiness in the face of such uncertainty, but something of justice. Something of a job well done. Something was going to work.

Morse code.

She held out a finger that was encircled with a ring that had once belonged to her mother and held it against the metal bar.

_Tap tap tap_.

But what came back to her was not Morse code.

"Shhhh…." a gruff voice in the darkness hissed. "He's coming."

Before Harper could respond, the silent darkness was interrupted by another sound.

A door.

Heavy feet descending some nearby stairs.

Harper moved away from the door and laid back down on the bed, but continued to listen as if her life depended upon it. Every cop instinct she ever had was on full alert.

Doors opening and closing. Large, heavy doors. Like the one she was currently staring at. One, two, three, four. Four other doors.

And then he was close. She could feel him standing outside her door. Slowly the door opened and in the half light, Harper made out the silhouette of her captor. Without a word, the monster who called himself Wo Fat moved silently across the room and put a tray down on the table next to the bed.

He looked down at her and saw her watching him, so he informed her in a deep voice, "The food is yours. It's not a trick. I'm not going take it away the last second. I want to keep you alive, so you need to eat."

"I'm sick," she told him, only half lying.

"I definitely believe that you feel sick," Wo Fat responded with an evil laugh. "But that will pass. It always does."

As he handed her a glass of water, thoughts of Steve came flooding back to her mind. Did he realize she was missing yet? Had he even bothered to come check on her or did he simply let her walk away again? Should she have reported in for work by now? If she hadn't, would he simply assume that she was playing games and trying to make him suffer? Would no one would realize she was gone until hours from now? After taking a sip, she placed the half-full water glass on her thigh and closed her hand around it.

"Is this about Steve McGarrett?" Harper asked suddenly, causing him to look over at her quickly, "Because if it is, you're making a mistake."

Wo Fat scooted closer to her, crouched down and, Harper thought, looked ready to spring. "How is that, Detective James?"

"You probably think that taking me is a way to get to Steve. But I'm old news. We got divorced. He's moved on with his life." Harper bent her right wrist to take awkward hold of the bedpost and continued, "I'm not connected to him anymore. You're just wasting your time with me."

Wo Fat pushed out his lips, considering her words, and then shook his head as he informed her, "That wasn't the impression I got last night. In his office. After that chat with daddy." Harper stopped her movements, shocked that Wo Fat could had witnessed that. "In fact, you and Commander McGarrett looked downright cozy."

The fear Harper had managed to suppress began to well up again. Wo Fat had been watching her and Steve, maybe for just one day, maybe for longer. Knowing she needed to pull Wo Fat's focus, she offered up a suggestion that made her flush with guilt and remorse, "You have no idea what you saw. Someone is feeding you misinformation."

"The Commander means something to you, doesn't he?" Haper's stomach twisted at the frightening knowledge Wo Fat had of her movements. "I admit, that's an interesting wrinkle in my plan. But I wouldn't count on the upstanding Navy man to come to your rescue." And then Wo Fat lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper, wrapping a hand intimately around Harper's calf saying, "I hear Commander McGarrett is afraid of your daddy."

But Harper wasn't listening. With a sudden movement, she smashed the lip of the glass she was clutching against the bedpost and slashed it across Wo Fat's face. He fell away with a scream as she lunged forward to stab the weapon into his chest, hoping the force would pull her hand free. She made contact and felt the shards push into his body, but with a wrenching snap she ricocheted backward, her back connecting painfully with the bed as the broken glass flew from her hand. Stunning pain flooded her senses and she knew without looking she'd broken her wrist. Struggling to her feet, she fought not to black out as she clenched her jaw to brace for the pain in her hand.

But before she knew it, Wo Fat had recovered and lifted his hand to give her a backhanded slap across her face and closed the other around her throat and brought his face down to hers as he said forcefully, "That was not a smart move, detective."

Harper was terrified and disgusted, but tried not to show it as she nodded, afraid of losing her oxygen supply, and he let go of throat as he said, "Maybe I need to give you a reason to be a little more afraid of me than you are."

Then suddenly, with one hand he yanked her off the bed and to her feet. Pulling on her arm as if he were trying to pull it from the socket, Harper yelled out as a violent pain shot through her arm. It exploded in the soft space behind her eyes and in a panic, Harper saw the stun gun in his hand and realized she had made a terrible mistake. He leveled it at her chest and shot her.

She willed herself to keep standing, to stay up, but her body didn't seem to work anymore and she slumped to the floor. He was going crazy now. The youngest James child stared at him in muted horror as he raised his boot and began to kick out at her. She could taste the blood, and feel her lips swelling. There was a hollow ringing in her ears, and she knew she was slipping into unconsciousness.

And then it was over. He was gone.

Lying in a crumpled pile on the dirty floor, her vision was blurred. But there was nothing to see anyway. With all of her training, she was unable to defend herself against him. He had seen to that with the drugs he was giving her. He wanted her powerless and he had succeeded. She started to cry hot tears, and that made her even angrier.

"You fucker," she muttered out loud, finally gaining enough strength in her arms to lift herself off the dirty floor. "You stupid motherfucker."

She didn't want to die. She wasn't ready. She hadn't accomplished all she had set out to do yet. She wasn't yet someone's wife or someone's mother. She was a cop. And a damn good one. She stared into the faces of monsters every day, but now she was going to die at the hands of a maniac.

_I don't want to die._

_I can beat him._

_I don't want to die._

_He will NOT win…_

The prison was quiet again. He was gone. She desperately needed to talk to someone.

Dragging her beaten and broken body over to the door, she called out hoarsely, "Hello out there?"

Surprised by the raspiness of her own voice, she waited. When no one answered, she tried again, "My name is Harper James. I'm a detective with the Chicago Police Department but I am in Hawaii working with the Five-0 Task Force! Somebody help me!"

Silence.

"I know you're out there! I know you can hear me!" Harper yelled, her voice strengthening with her courage. "Come on! Who's out there?"

Harper paused again and waited for an answer. But there was still no response. They were scared. And they were right to be petrified. But Harper was tired of being afraid. Now she was just angry. Banging her fist on the door, she called out again, "My name is Harper James…somebody talk to me! Who is out there?"

And then suddenly, a voice like an angel came out of the darkness, saying, "That is not your name."

Someone were there! And it sounded like a man. Pulling herself up closer to the window, she called again, "What's your name? Talk to me, please, please, please. Tell me your name."

More silence. And then finally…

"Your full name is Harper Elizabeth James McGarrett."

A wave of emotions flooded over the detective as she wondered how this man could possibly know her name, so she called back, "How do you know my name?"

And then…

"Because I was at your wedding."

She suddenly recognized his voice. But it couldn't be true. Her senses must be playing games with her, but Harper knew she would never forget. Slumping down against the heavy wooden door, the redhead finally succumbed to the hot tears that were gathering behind her eyes and let them roll down her face as she asked the question again, "Who are you?"

"It's me, Harper," the voice informed her, "It's Jack McGarrett."


	19. Jack

_**Okay, so here's the deal…**_

_**Ever since the pilot episode, I have had this nagging little idea in the back of my brain…What if Hesse didn't really kill Jack McGarrett? I mean, we didn't see him die. We didn't see the shot. Steve didn't see him die, he only heard the shot. I always thought the big twist in the series was going to be that Jack wasn't really dead. Since it doesn't look like it's going to play out that way, I've decided to write it myself! **_

_**I think I confused some people by talking about Tom Selleck a couple of chapters back and I'd like to clear things up. A loyal reader asked what actor I had in mind while writing Harper and I wrote back in one of my author's notes that I didn't really have an actor in mind for Harper but when I was writing her father, Mickey James, I was clearly picturing Tom Selleck. That is why I said that it was a meeting of Tom Selleck and Alex O'Loughlin. Despite my love for Blue Bloods, I was not actually relating Harper to the Reagan family. The family I have created for her, the James', includes her father Mickey and four brothers…Frankie, Vinnie, Tommy, and Bobby. So far, we've only met Frankie and I'm not sure if we are going to meet the rest of them because I don't want to add too many new characters to the mix. I hope that clears things up.**_

_**Also, I played with the McGarrett backstory, too. I know in the show that Steve and his father and sister were estranged since their mother's death but I decided to change that. Hey, if I can give him an ex-wife and bring his father back from the dead, I figured I could take a little more creative license, too! In this story, the McGarrett family have been in contact since the mother's death and were at Steve and Harper's wedding. Plus, I couldn't find a name for Steve's mother so I gave her one of my own.**_

_**I'm sorry that it took so long to get this chapter up. It's been written for a few days, but I was having trouble uploading it. Damn computers...**_

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><p><strong>Chapter 19 – Jack<strong>

"_Do not stand at my grave and weep, I am not there, I do not sleep. __I am a thousand winds that blow. I am the diamond glint on snow. I am the sunlight on ripened grain. I am the gentle autumn rain. When you wake in the morning hush, I am the swift, uplifting rush of quiet birds in circling flight. I am the soft starlight at night. __Do not stand at my grave and weep. I am not there, I do not sleep. Do not stand at my grave and cry. I am not there, I did not die!"_

~ Mary Elizabeth Frye

_**Somewhere in Hawaii…**_

_"It's me, Harper," the voice informed her, "It's Jack McGarrett."_

"Jack?" Harper whispered into the darkness and after letting the name roll around inside her addled brain for a few moments, she said it out loud, "Jack McGarrett?"

"That's the one," came the reply.

"You're dead," she answered bluntly because it seemed to be the only thought that was cognizant in her brain.

The older man chuckled and admitted, "Well some days it feels that way, but trust me when I tell you that I'm not."

Something was wrong. Very, very wrong, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Her cop brain was somehow managing to override the drugs and the beating and it was now working in maximum overdrive as she asked accusingly, "Who are you?"

"John McGarrett, Vietnam War vet and detective with the Honolulu PD," John told her seriously, knowing exactly how her mind worked, "Husband of Anna, father of Steven and Mary Ann…"

"No, no, this is not happening," Harper interrupted, shaking her head in denial, "I've been drugged…I'm hallucinating."

"I can see how you could draw that conclusion…"

"I've been beaten," she interrupted again as if not letting him speak would make it all untrue, "My brain got jostled and it's playing tricks on me…"

"Are you okay?"

The concern in his voice was jarring so it took her a minute to say, "I'll live. I stabbed him with a broken water glass…"

"Good girl."

"But then he broke my wrist," she deadpanned, gingerly touching her wrist and then reaching up to touch her face as she added, "And then the son of a bitch kicked the shit out of me."

"You took it like a champ."

"It's practically my middle name…Harper _'Take it Like a Champ'_ James," the redheaded detective bit out and then getting the conversation back on track, she said, "Steve thinks you're dead. He told me you were dead. Everyone thinks you're dead."

"I know," Jack said and Harper thought she heard a twinge of sadness in his voice as he continued, "That's what he's been told…"

"He heard it happen!"

"No, he didn't," the senior detective argued, "He heard a gunshot."

"Jack McGarrett is dead," Harper repeated, as if she was trying to convince both of them that it was the truth, "He was killed by a terrorist named Victor Hesse."

"Who works for our friend, Wo Fat," he reminded her slowly. And when she was quiet for a few moments, he knew that she was ready to believe so he said again, "It's me, Harper. It's Jack."

"Prove it."

In the darkness, Jack McGarrett smiled to himself. He could imagine having the same conversation with either of his own children and he suddenly remembered why he had instantly loved this woman who had captured his son's heart.

"I remember your wedding day," Jack began, loud enough for her to hear, "I was there. It was on the beach in Mexico. Just you and Steve, the priest, a handful of friends, Mary and me. You wore a simple white dress, no shoes, and had an orchid in your hair. It was the reddest hair I had ever seen…"

"There were pictures," Harper interrupted quickly, wishing that he had chosen any other memory than her wedding to Steve, "Anyone could know those details."

"You took his breath away," he continued, undeterred by her interruption, "I remember the look on his face. A parent doesn't ever forget that look of pure happiness when they see it on their child's face. He called you "his Jimmy"…"

"Wo Fat called me Jimmy," she interrupted again, "He knew Steve's nickname for me. He could have told you…"

This time it was Jack's turn to interrupt as he said smoothly, "You didn't think that anyone from your family was going to show up. So there wasn't anyone walk you down the aisle…or the beach, as it was. You said it was because it was so last minute and no one could get away from Chicago, but I could see in your eyes that they wouldn't have come even if they had a year's notice. They didn't approve. So I offered to walk you down the aisle and you hugged me so tight that I could barely breathe."

Harper's breath caught in her throat as his words transported her back to that emotional day in their history. As if on cue, tears filled her eyes as he went on, "And when I came to your hotel room that morning, you were crying. It was supposed to be the happiest day of your life and you looked so sad. You were all alone in that room and that wasn't how you ever believed your wedding day would be. You were marrying the man of your dreams on one of the most beautiful beaches in the world and no one was there to celebrate with you. Your mom was gone, your father disapproved of Steve, and your brothers would never go against your father's wishes…they had left you were all alone on your wedding day. So I asked you if you had any doubts and you wiped the tears away, smiled up at me, and said, _'Not about Steve. He's the only man in my life who didn't let me down today._'" Jack smiled at the memory and told her truthfully, "At that moment, I knew you were a keeper. And then in something like a scene from a movie, there was a knock at the door…"

"Vinnie," Harper breathed, her voice barely a whisper, as she wiped away the eyes that had fallen down her cheeks at the memory.

"It was your brother, Vincent, and his wife," Jack continued, not hearing her say her brother's name, "He couldn't let his baby sister get married without anyone to give her away or someone to stand up for her. And he gave you a locket that had been your mother's…the one she wore on her wedding day."

Harper reached up and fingered the locket she still wore around her neck. She had no idea where the rest of her clothes were, but for some reason her captors had allowed her to keep the heart shaped locket that contained a picture of her mother on her wedding day.

"And then as you walked out to the beach, he had another gift for you," Jack went on, as much for himself as for her. It had been so long since he had conjured up these beautiful memories. "The rest of your brothers were waiting there…Frankie, Tommy, and Bobby. They had all made the trip despite your father's wishes. When you saw them, the smile on your face got even wider than before and you were the most beautiful bride I had ever seen. It was a perfect day."

Harper slid down against the large, heavy door until she connected with the floor and pulled her knees up under her chin. The only thing she could think to say to him was, "Vinnie's gone. He was killed in an undercover operation."

"I know," the elder McGarrett told her, "Steve told me."

"God, I don't know what to believe anymore," she moaned, shoving both of her hands through her messy hair, "This has been one hell of a week. One minute I'm on an undercover operation trying to find the punk who killed my partner and the next minute I'm face to face with my ex-husband who left me to go to Virginia. Only now I find out that my father forced him to leave me and before I could figure out how I feel about that, I was attacked by two big goons in my hotel room and thrown into a dungeon. I knew that my life was never going to be dull, but this is a little ridiculous…"

"Steve is in Hawaii?" Jack asked in surprise.

Remembering that the man had been trapped in this prison for the better part of a year, Harper explained, "He left Naval Intelligence to head up a task force called Hawaii Five-0…"

"Five-0?" he interrupted again, a grin coming to his face, "When he and Mary were kids, I used to call us the _Five-Oers_ because Hawaii is the 50th U.S. state. I can't believe he remembered that."

"He came to Hawaii to solve your murder," she informed him, understanding all too well the complicated relationships that existed between fathers and sons, and then added, "And your wife's."

"So, he found my clues. Good boy," Jack said with fatherly pride, and then asked, "What does he know about it so far?"

The sparks of a normal conversation, relatively normal under the circumstances, seemed to be enough to ignite all of Harper's senses as she told him, "He knows that it wasn't a drunk driver or a car accident…"

"It was a bomb," he corrected her angrily.

"He knows she was murdered by a high ranking Yakuza who was gunning for you," Harper continued, spitting out all of the information Steve and the team had shared with her, "He knows that you got too close to finding out the truth and that's why you were…murdered. And he knows that you sent him and Mary Ann away for their protection." Unable to put all of the pieces together in her head, she asked, "What the hell is going on, Jack? No offense, but why hasn't he killed you?"

"It's a game," the detective informed her, "He's playing with us…me, Steve, and now you."

"Well, I don't want to play anymore."

"I wish it were that simple, sweetheart," Jack told her and she could practically feel the smile spread across his lips through their cell doors. It was a surreal experience.

"He knew things about me…personal things," Harper told him, "About me and Steve. How does he know those things? Did you tell him…?"

"Don't even finish that question, Harper Elizabeth," her former father in law scolded and then added, "He must have someone on the inside."

"No way, Steve is too smart for that," Harper shook her head even though she knew he couldn't see her and reminded him, "He chose his team carefully. He trusts them."

"Then he planted a bug somewhere in the office…"

"…and everything they do there is compromised," she finished for him because the minds of cops work the same way. "Wo Fat will always be one step ahead of them. Where are we?"

" I don't know," Jack admitted and then continued, "but this is a manmade structure. There are more rooms…downstairs somewhere. He had me in one of them first, before he moved me here. He hides behind the walls. He and his two thugs watch all the time. I don't think he ever sleeps."

"What does he want from us, Jack?" Harper asked, knowing that there wasn't going to be a good answer to her question, "Why did he kill my partner? Why would he keep you alive but let Steve think you were dead…it seems that it would torture your son more if he knew that you were alive but couldn't save you."

"There's lots about this that I don't understand..." the older man said, his voice now hoarse from emotion…relief, joy, guilt, fear. "Probably lots that we will never understand. But this is all about my son and my wife's murder. I don't know how your partner fits in or why Wo Fat felt the need to bring you here. I think we just have to let this play out…"

"I'm not that good at letting things play out," his former daughter in law reminded him, "Because if this is a trap to lure Steve here, he and the team will be walking into an ambush."

"I think my son can take care of himself."

"I know he can," Harper agreed, leaning her head back against the door and closing her eyes, "but it's what is going to happen in the meantime that has me worried."


	20. This Woman's Work

_**Okay, enough of this. I think it's time for the REAL Harper James to come out and play…**_

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><p><strong>Chapter 20 – This Woman's Work<strong>

"_The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over."_

_~Hunter S. Thompson_

_**Somewhere in Hawaii, the next afternoon…**_

_Consciousness slammed into her with enough force to rock her body. Pain came right alongside. Her head was throbbing, and when she opened her eyes all she could see was a curtain of haze, penetrated only by the furniture of the makeshift bedroom he had created for her. She brought her shoulder to her face and smeared the blood it encountered away, wondering aimlessly how it had gotten there. The wind was wailing around her ears, chilling her deep and bringing the dim light of evening with it. The detective tried again to wipe her eyes, but her arms would not work. She twisted a bit, realizing with sickening swiftness that her hands were tied behind her. The cords binding them cut against her wrists, slicing a bit deeper with every move. So she lay still again, forcing herself to breathe deep, licking her dry lips with her dry tongue._

_A bright flash of light penetrated her closed eyelids and she opened them as if on command, her eyes darting from side to side in her dream-like state. A slight murmur erupted from her parted lips as the sound of heavy boots struck old stone and her heart pounded to the rhythm of the vibration as the shadowy figure advanced toward her with his gun held securely within his claw like hand. She had heard him come in before she ever looked up and saw him standing there. The look on his face told her that he had not come into the room to check on her health._

_"It seems you have some visitors, detective." Wo Fat snarled in his evil tone as he glanced toward the doorway. Harper sharply inhaled when she saw them being marched into the cell. _

_Her brothers…Frankie, Vinnie, Tommy, and Bobby. Followed by her father. Then Sammy. And Steve._

_What were they doing there? It was then that she realized that she was alone on the floor of the room, staring into the grim faces and the terrified eyes of the people she loved most in this world. The realization that they were going to die hit her in an instant and a scream rose up in her throat. _

_"No!"_

_It came out of nowhere, the spray of gunfire and spatter of blood. Everything was in chaos, their screams filling the prison as they fell to the floor one by one. _

_Images invaded her dreams. Horror. Pain. Death. _

_Frankie. _

_Screams. Sobs. _

_Time itself seemed jaded. Colors erupted from nothing. _

_Flash._

_Vinnie. _

_More screams. More gunshots. _

_Tommy. _

_Dead. They were dying because of her. To save her. _

_Bobby._

_A bright light splashed through. Someone yelling. Screaming. Crying. More light. It seemed unnatural. Images of the men she loved as their lifeless bodies fell to the floor. _

_Flash. _

_Sammy._

_Flash._

_Steve._

_Yelling. Screaming. Trying to catch her hitching breath, Harper lay her face against the cold, concrete wall and tried to close her eyes to the visions of death that were in front of her. But she couldn't look away. Her eyes focused and darted around the room, taking in the sight of them all writhing in pain, their bodies bent and broken beyond repair. Blood - so much blood smeared over skin marred with ugly cuts and bruises. For the briefest of moments, she could actually smell the sickly sweet coppery tang mixed with the odor of smoking guns. Wo Fat had exacted his punishment on her, just as he had promised he would. A punishment worse than death. She could feel the darkness that was trying to swallow her up. _

_Everyone was gone...her brothers, her partner, Steve...and only a feeling of hopelessness was there for her. It was the darkness of loneliness she'd always been afraid of._

_"Harper."_

_Her father's familiar voice penetrated the darkness and she glanced up to see him looking down at her, the barrel of a gun pointed at his chest. Emotion swallowed her up for a moment; fear, pain, sorrow at what she had left behind, dread of what was to come. Tears slicked her eyes and she tried to blink them away. _

_"This is your fault," Wo Fat told her, the evil smile creeping over his lips. "You didn't work hard enough. You weren't good enough. You didn't find me in time and now they have to die. Their blood is on your hands."_

_"Daddy!" Harper cried, unable to move. Unable to help. He was right. It was her fault._

_"You should have stopped me. I gave you every opportunity." she heard Wo Fat say as the sound of one last gunshot filled the small room._

_It seemed to take Mickey James an eternity to fall...his body curved in a graceful arc as he sank backwards toward the dirt floor, his eyes locked with hers. She saw the look of mingled fear and surprise on her father's wasted, once-handsome face as his body finally hit the floor and his eyes closed for eternity. Seven shots and they were all gone. Lying cold and motionless on the floor. _

_Because they were trying to save her…_

Whimpering, Harper turned in her sleep and cried out. "No! Don't hurt them!" Her arms were suddenly free from their constrictions and she reached out. "Don't hurt them!"

Her bare palm connected with the cold, stone floor and reality suddenly pushed through the haze that surrounded her as the realization that it was just a nightmare began to sink in. Harper coughed and then gasped in shock at the myriad of pain that shook through her body. Opening her eyes, she saw she was lying on her side in an unnatural heap. Trying to find her place in the world, the detective pulled her left arm from beneath her body and pushed up off the ground, slowly, trying to find a point at which her head didn't swim and throb. She put pressure on her hands as she righted herself and a scream of shock tore from her throat and bounced off the walls of her prison. Her eyes flew to the source of the pain to find her wrist purple with bruises and swollen as the bones and tendons fought to regain their accustomed positions in her arm. Sitting up carefully and blinking her sleep laden eyes, Harper shivered. She'd never felt this cold in her entire life. It was as if someone had sliced open her bones and poured in the ice from the darkest depths of Antarctica and further still. She didn't think she'd ever be warm again.

Blood.

She tasted blood. Metallic and warm and sickly sweet. On her lips. In her mouth. Over her tongue.

It was then that she remembered that Wo Fat had sent one of his henchmen into her cell the previous night. She could smell the alcohol on the gang member's breath the moment he had entered. He had been sent to administer more of drug that kept her immobile and in a haze, but true to her nature Harper had resisted. And in return the man had enjoyed torturing her…beating a defenseless woman within inches of her life. And then jabbing her with a needle full of that poison.

Forgetting her wrist for the moment, she brought her hand to her face and tried to find the source of that thick, unnerving taste. Her fingers fluttered first to her mouth, her teeth—they were all still there. Nothing loose. Then over her skin, her hand shaking as she did so, until she touched the cut high on her right cheekbone. From a fist? A knife? The glass? She wasn't sure, but she closed her eyes with gratitude when she found that the cut wasn't deep. She wasn't going to bleed to death, at least, she told herself as she swiped the back of her hand over her cheek and mouth to wipe away the blood.

She found herself huddled up in a ball next to the door to her cell in what could only be described as a dungeon pit from hell. Harper stared at its stone clad walls as damp drips of water descended from the roof and had to suppress a shiver. It was dark; she could barely see her hand inches before her face despite the presence of flickering candles in brackets along the walls. Her body was drenched in perspiration, but she was determined.

Detective Harper Elizabeth James would never let a monster like Wo Fat break her will. She could be unbelievably strong when she wanted to be. Mentally. Physically. Emotionally.

The room began to tilt, and Harper only just caught herself on her right elbow.

"Don't you pass out, James," she breathed, willing the dark spots away before they overtook her vision. "Pull it together. Pull it together. Pull it together."

Deep breaths in, deep breaths out. And she found her center once again. She focused on her body, taking inventory. Nothing felt sore, nothing felt torn, nothing felt bruised, nothing felt penetrated. The detective choked on a quick sob of thankfulness and then pulled her emotions back into check before they overtook her.

"Pull it together," she repeated, more forcefully.

Where was Wo Fat now? Had he abandoned his plan for her? Was he regrouping—just as she was—in preparation for their next meeting? And where was Jack?

"Jack?"

There was an eerie silence that fell over the dungeon as she called out for him again. Was he really still alive or had it all been a dream? Or worse yet…what had they done to him while she had been passed out?

"Jack?"

Harper knew her mind had to remain clear. The pain in her swollen, broken wrist was muted in the background. Her aching head pounded less. The blood stopped flowing across her cheek. She knew this world, and if she was going to survive, she would have to do so on her own.

She breathed quietly and concentrated on clearing her mind of the pain, of the nausea, and of the nightmare. She focused on what she had to do next.

One simple concept.

Escape.

The detective staggered to her feet and stumbled toward one of the candles hanging on the wall, taken aback for a moment by her weakened state as she was forced to lean against the wall for support. Finally drawing herself to her full height and detaching the candle from its position on the hanging, she placed it on the floor in front of her and kneeled down in front of it. She let her head fall almost to her knees as all of her remaining energy was eaten away by the cold. In the terrible silence and loneliness, Harper felt the overwhelming need to pray, to talk to God.

God would still hear her in this grotesquely evil place, wouldn't he?

"God…" she began in a whisper, focusing on the flickering flame of the candle, "I'm not very good at this and I'm sorry that I only partially believed in You for the last few years. But after my mom died and the things that I've seen on the job…I guess I just didn't see much evidence of your existence. And as a cop…evidence is my life. But someone told me once…I think it was my grandmother…that faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. So, I guess I'm relying on the evidence I have seen and asking for your help."

Licking her lips, Harper continued, "I'm not good at asking for help…from anyone, so don't be offended. And I know that this isn't 'Let's Make a Deal', but if you could help get me out of this one…I'd be eternally grateful. Please help me. Please…"

She was praying so hard, concentrating, that she didn't hear him open the door. He was always so quiet. A phantom. A ghost.

Wo Fat held a hospital syringe in one hand as he came toward her. He was saying something to her, something important, but Harper had no idea what it was. He grabbed her by the neck with one hand and she watched helplessly as the syringe pierced her flesh and he emptied the drug into her system.

Coward.

For such a powerful man, he was such a coward.

He kept talking to her, but the mysterious words echoed in her brain…meaningless mumbo jumbo. She tried to listen to what he was saying. She tried so hard…

"Detective James…talked to Jack…so smart. So smart that you're stupid!"

Harper nodded her head as if she understood what he'd just told her, followed his words and logic perfectly. He obviously knew she had talked to Steve's father. But was he saying that she was smart or that she was stupid? Or so smart that she was stupid? That was true enough.

"I wanted…talk…" Harper managed to say. Her tongue felt as if it were enclosed in a woolen mitten. What she had wanted to say was, "Let's talk this all out. We need to talk." But he wasn't much into talking on this visit. There was something especially inhuman about him this time.

Don't want to die…" she tried talking again, "Be good. I'll be good…"

As she was trying to talk, she saw him hold up the stun gun. Harper knew instinctively that the electric shock from the stun gun would immobilize her as it had before. She tried to concentrate on what she could do to save herself. She was on full automatic pilot now. All learned reflexes.

_One straight, true kick_, she thought to herself.

But that seemed impossible right now…she could feel her limbs getting weaker. The redhead reached deep inside herself anyway. Total concentration. All of her years on the force, all of her training now had to be channeled into one slender chance to save her own life.

He came toward her, moving very purposely. Harper kicked out with all of her remaining strength and aimed for his kidneys. The blow could incapacitate him, but she wanted to kill him.

But she missed the kick of her life.

Instead, something else happened. Her foot did connect solidly with bone and flesh. Not the kidney, not even close to her intended target. But the kick has slammed into his hip, or his upper thigh. No matter…it had hurt him.

Wo Fat yelped in pain. He sounded like a dog clipped by a speeding car. She could tell that he was surprised, too. He took a sudden stutter-step backward and he toppled over.

She had hurt him. Wo Fat was down.

_Run! Go! Run your ass off! Get the hell out of here now!_

Harper staggered and weaved out through the heavy wooden door he had left open behind him. She didn't know how badly Wo Fat was hurt or where his little buddies were. Escape was her only thought. But her mind was playing tricks on her. Confusing images came and went, without making the proper connections. The drug, whatever it was, was taking its full toll. She was disoriented.

She was barely able to climb to climb a steep stairway outside the door. Was it heading to another floor? She was hopelessly bewildered and confused now. Has she really knocked Wo Fat down or was she hallucinating? Was he coming after her? Blood was roaring in her ears and she felt dizzy enough to fall down.

Jack.

Where was Jack?

He was close by. But where? Where was his door? She had heard them opening the doors last night. Where was he? She was having horrendous difficulty navigating her way through the long, narrow hallways. She weaved like a drunken soldier as she wondered what kind of structure she was in. Was it a house? It looked like a house, but what kind of house had walls like these?

"Jack!" Harper called out, but her voice barely made a sound. She couldn't concentrate, couldn't focus. Where was he? She stopped and pulled on a doorknob, but the door wouldn't open for her. Why was the door locked?

"Jack! Please answer me!"

And then suddenly…

"Harper?"

She could hear his voice but couldn't get her body to move toward the sound.

"I'm out, Jack! I escaped!" she called to him. "Where are you?"

"No!" he shouted back and she still couldn't make out the direction of his voice. "Go without me!"

"No!" Harper screamed. "We can do this together. We have to…"

"They broke my legs," Jack admitted. "When they found out I was talking to you, they beat me. I would only be a burden to you. Go get Steve and bring back help!"

"I don't know the island…"

"You can do it, Harper!" Jack commanded roughly, "I know you can do it! Now, run! Go!"

Escape! she commanded herself. Find the way out. Focus on that! Bring back help. Steve, Danno, Chin and Kono…they were waiting. They would come and save the day.

She came to another flight of stairs that looked ancient, almost from another era. Dirt was caked on the stairway. Soil. Little rocks and glass fragments. These were really old stairs. Harper could barely keep her balance any longer, so she pitched herself forward and almost hit her chin on the second stair. She kept crawling, scrabbling, up the stairs. She was on her knees climbing up the stairs. Toward what? An attic? Where was she going to end up? Would he be there, waiting for her with the paralyzing stun gun and another syringe?

Suddenly she was outside!

She was actually out of the prison. She had made it out somehow. The redhead was half blinded by the streaming bands of sunlight, but the world had never looked so beautiful. She breathed in the sweet smell of the trees…acacia, Hawaiian treeferns, towering pines with no limbs except at the very top. Harper looked at the woods and the sky high above her and she cried. The tears washed down her face.

Escape! She suddenly thought of Wo Fat. Harper tried to run a few steps, but she fell again. She did the hands-and-knees waltz and then lurched back to her feet again.

_Run! Get away from here!_

She tried to concentrate on finding her way out of the dark, dense forest. He would be coming after her now. She was pretty sure she didn't hurt him very badly, though God knows she had tried. He was going to try and catch her, and then he was going to kill her when he did.

Harper settled into a herky, jerky rhythm of running and stumbling forward. The forest floor was soft and spongy, a carpet of pine straws and fern leaves. And then she heard it…

"Harper!"

He was coming! She heard him crashing around behind her. His bravado had to mean that nobody was around for miles…nobody to help her in the godforsaken woods. Hawaii had thousands of acres of forests on the island and she could be anywhere. She was on her own out here.

She could hear the rushing sound of a waterfall and she headed in that direction. Maybe there would be some tourists or a way of calling for help. Harper climbed a steep, rocky hill that seemed like Mount Everest in her exhausted state. She slid and went down hard in a mesh of honeysuckle and pointy rocks. Excruciating pain shot through her left leg, but she pushed herself up again.

_Ignore the blood. Ignore the pain. Keep going. You have to get to Steve. He has to know his father is alive. Just keep going!_

"Harper! Detective James! I'm right behind you!"

The top of the steep hill ended abruptly in a canyon. Steep, sheer rock dropped at least a hundred feet down. Only a few bare scrub pines grew out of the rock. There was nowhere to hide and nowhere to run. Harper thought it was a sad, lonely place for her to die.

She finally turned to look behind her. There he was! Forty, thirty, twenty yards away but his eyes were fixed on her. The detective turned away from him, turned her back on Sammy's killer. She peered down at the steep valley of rocks and trees. The dizziness she felt was almost as terrifying as the deadly alternative rushing up behind her.

She heard him scream her name.

"Harper!"

She didn't look behind her again.

Harper Elizabeth James McGarrett took a deep breath and jumped.

She tucked her knees and held on to them. Just your regular swimming hole cannonball leap, she thought to herself. There was a river down below. The silver-blue ribbon of water was coming at her unbelievably fast. The roar was getting louder in her ears. She had no idea how deep it was, but how deep could a small stream like that be? Two feet? Maybe four? Ten feet deep if these were the luckiest few seconds of her life, which she sincerely doubted.

"Harper!" She heard Wo Fat's screams from high above, "You're dead!"

Harper hit a wall of water…hard. She hit the bottom so quickly it was as if there hadn't been any water in the fast moving stream. The detective felt sharp shooting pains, terrible pains, everywhere. She swallowed water. She realized she was going to drown. She was going to die either way…

At least she was going out on her own terms.


	21. Found

_**Hello Readers! Thanks so much for the continued support you are showing this story. I was afraid I would lose a few people when I pulled a "back from the dead" plot out of my bag of tricks, but I'm glad to see so many of you still sticking with me! **_

_**I hope you enjoy this chapter...we have a little history, a little family reconcilliation, and a little bit of a happy ending. A happy ending to the chapter, that is. Not the fic! I still have a few more chapters up my sleeve!**_

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><p><strong>Chapter 21 – Found<strong>

_"I believe very strongly that when it comes to desire, when it comes to attraction, that things are never black and white, things are very much shades of grey."_

~Brian Molko

**_Chicago, Illinois, ten years ago…_**

_The most amazing thing Steven John McGarrett had ever seen was the naked semi-silhouette of Harper James' form in the early morning half-light._

_He vaguely registered her slipping out of his arms and tiptoeing to the adjoining bathroom. Through his contented slumber, he hazily listened to the sound of the shower running and simply enjoyed the presence of someone getting ready for the day in the quiet stillness of the bedroom._

_He drowsily wondered where she might be going, as his unconscious threw images at him of their previous night's love-making, causing his body to ache for her warm presence back in his arms. He'd only really started to awaken when he heard her creep back into the dimly lit bedroom, stopping every few steps to retrieve the clothes and possessions they had dispensed with so carelessly mere hours earlier. __Steve stretched lazily as she made her way to the chair in the corner of the room and dropped his things in it with a barely audible sigh and then cracked his eyes open just in time to see her peel her towel from around her body and drop it to the floor._

_And there she stood…like a masterpiece of ancient art, posed exclusively for him, and without her knowledge. She was flesh and blood artistry in his presence._

_Harper leaned over to fish her bra out of the pile of clothes and wrapped it around herself, then fastened it deftly, and adjusted her generous flesh in the lacy red cups. Enjoying the show she was unknowingly putting on for him, Steve thought back to all that he had learned about the elusive Detective James when he'd had her flushed and naked in his bed. Like how truly beautiful she was, what a joyous and fun lover she was, and how a man could get so totally lost in beautiful green eyes that looked at him like they'd never seen another man that they'd liked quite so well. He'd learned all of that and more._

_But, he thought with an inner grin, he didn't mind a little further study._

_Harper continued dressing with her back to him, sleek and elegant, as she rifled through the nearby closet, looking for something to wear. He watched as she stepped into a pair of lacy red panties and pulled them up over her naked bottom and thighs and then repeated the motion with a pair of gray slacks. He kept his eyes almost closed as she turned and began searching for something to put on over that pretty red bra. He smiled internally as she found an emerald green camisole and slipped it over her head...the combination making him think of Christmas. And sex. Two of his very favorite things._

_Moving over to the full length mirror standing near the window, she pulled a small hairbrush through her crimson wet locks and contemplated fastening it up into a ponytail with a band, but then decided against it._

_"You know, you don't look like a Harper," he informed her in a crackly morning voice, suddenly aware that she was about to leave the room, "Where did your parents come up with that name?"_

_She turned and looked at him in surprise as she whispered, "I didn't want to wake you."_

_With a smile on her face, she stepped closer and sat down next to his long, lanky body on the bed. Leaning over him and bestowing on his lips a soft, sweet kiss she murmured, "Good morning."_

_"Morning," he rumbled happily and kissed her back, the sensation of his new lover making his belly burn. When they parted he asked again, "Seriously…the name?"_

_"My dad named me after his old partner…Stan Harper," she informed him seriously, "He died in a drug raid on the night I was born. Actually, he was covering for my dad so he could be at the hospital with my mom."_

_"Well, that's morbid," Steve remarked, never taking his eyes off of her beautiful face._

_"He was a good cop," she answered defensively, "And a good man."_

_"But you're a beautiful woman," he reminded her and then added, "You should have a beautiful woman's name."_

_"If you say Bambi or Tiffani or anything else that ends in an 'i', I'm going to throttle you," his redheaded lover warned, cocking her head to the side and staring him down with those piercing green eyes of hers._

_"What if I call you Jimmy?"_

_"That's your idea of a beautiful woman's name?"_

_"I like it," he protested, "Short for James. You'll be my Jimmy-girl…tough as any guy but sexy as hell."_

_"Jimmy girl," she said, trying the name out loud and then with a glint in her eye she told him, "I like it."_

_"And I like you."_

_Her small hand, smelling of lavender soap, stroked his cheek, then slipped slowly down to his chest as their tongues began to mate in the dance that they'd invented the night before. His body was immediately awake and instantly starved for her. One of his hands curled around the nape of her neck, anchoring her mouth to his, while the other slipped over her knee, fingers brushing the inside of her thigh and inching slowly upwards._

_She pulled away from him, eyes closed and breath shallow. "Hold that thought…" she panted, dropping three perfect kisses on his chest before moving to disentangle herself from his wandering hands._

_"Jimmy…" he whispered in place of begging her to stay with him on the bed._

_She caught his unspoken plea without him having to utter it and shot him a smile as she answered, "Sorry, sexy. But I have to go to work."_

_"Can't the people of Chicago fend for themselves?" he questioned quietly, hoping that she held no regrets about their new involvement. "Just for one morning?"_

_Harper laughed at him as she rose up from the bed and moved back over to the closet to pull out the matching gray suit jacket and drape it over her arm. She paused and glanced over at him momentarily, looking every bit the cool and composed detective that everyone knew her to be by day. Only now Steve knew that the passionate and vivacious woman she became by night was always simmering just below the surface._

_She was heading out the door when his arm snaked out from under the covers, grabbed her and pulled her back down to the bed, rolling her onto her back. She laughed at him, loud and belly-deep as he covered her body with his and began to attack her neck with eager lips and teeth. Her neck arched, as she put up a half hearted struggle, but he pinned her down easily and kissed down over her green camisole covered breasts._

_"Don't..." he muttered. "...want..." kissing her all over. "...you..." pulling her closer. "...to..." breathing her in, "...go..."_

_He looked up at her, flushed and giggly under him, and suddenly her eyes sparkled – a momentary warning – before she grunted with effort and flipped him onto his back in one of the best self defense moves her older brothers had ever taught her._

_What a woman._

_Harper smiled down at him smugly and adjusted her seat on his hips, carefully. He hummed and reached for her, smoothing his hands up her cotton clad thighs and over her hips. She tucked some loose strands of hair behind her ears and leaned down to kiss him, her mouth taking control of his in an assertive kiss._

_"Believe me, McGarrett…" she muttered, straightening slowly, "the last thing I want to do right now is go patrol the streets of Chicago…"_

_"Then don't," he grinned, pressing his hips up into her and letting her feel his naked arousal. He watched her eyes flutter closed fleetingly and her tongue come out to wet her lips._

_"I have to," she huffed, unwillingly, as she bent over and nipped at his ear lobe with her teeth. They shared a smile and then he sighed deeply, resigning himself to her departure, but didn't let go of her hands as she reminded him, "And so do you, partner. But don't worry…after our shift, when we have this place to ourselves again, I will make it up to you."_

_"How are you gonna do that?" he wondered, already thinking up ideas to assist her. He felt her grin as she dragged her cheek along his, her warm breath coating his ear._

_"I have my ways…" she whispered there, her voice over-flowing with mischief. She pulled back, tossed her long locks over her opposite shoulder and leaned down to his other ear as she whispered sexily, "Secret undercover ways…perfected by my years working as a vice cop. I learned a lot from those girls down on the corners in Washington Park."_

_She met his eyes with a naughty grin and he chuckled lowly. She knew him too well._

_"I'm going to hold you to that," he warned her, hands sweeping over her back and pulling her down to his mouth once again._

_"I'll look forward to it," she whispered against his lips._

_Suddenly, she pulled back and hastily got off him, grinning slyly. He propped himself up on his elbows and watched with a smoldering gaze as she picked her jacket up off the floor and turned towards the door. Steve groaned a tortured groan and dropped his head back on the pillow, smelling her scent that was permanently trapped in the sheets and cast his mind forward in eagerness to when she returned to him…with a fervent body, open heart, and big smile._

_'Let's get this show on the road', he thought, smiling to himself as he shucked off the sheets and got up from the bed, heading to the bathroom with a definite spring in his step._

Steve's head bobbed as he opened his tired eyes and realized that he had fallen asleep at his desk. Lifting his head, he blinked quickly and looked around his office in confusion. His team were all still here…each at their desks, just as tired as he was. The James men were still camped out in different corners of Five-0 headquarters doing what they could to help. Nobody rested. Nobody.

Forty eight hours.

It had been forty eight hours since Harper had been taken from her hotel room by a madman.

And in those forty eight hours, they had found nothing that brought them closer to finding her and saving her life.

Nothing.

Since starting the Five-0 taskforce nearly a year ago, Steve had prided himself on his team's ability to bring cases to a quick and efficient end. But now that it was one of their own in trouble, they were forty eight hours into a case with no leads, no suspects, and no way to get to Harper.

Kono and Chin were out canvassing all of the businesses that had been found to have ordered large quantities of Ketamine or benzodiazepines in recent months. Frankie, Mickey, and Danny were combing through the evidence from Detective Samuel Norval's murder and comparing it to what they knew about Kai Akino's death, hoping that something…anything…jumped out at them and could lead them in the right direction. But that was all they had. Wo Fat was the best they had come up against yet. He was smart. He didn't leave any identifiable evidence behind.

And Commander Steven John McGarrett was starting to get pissed.

Cool, calm, collected, and other "c" words had been used to describe him for most of his life…a guy with just as much brain as he had brawn. He had conducted clandestine missions behind enemy lines and captured enemy targets and intelligence against impossible odds. He could bring a threatening act of sea piracy to resolution in the blink of an eye. As part of the Navy SEALs he had been expertly trained to deliver highly specialized, intensely challenging warfare capabilities that were beyond the means of standard military forces. He had to go through what is widely considered to be the most physically and mentally demanding military training in existence. Then came the tough part: the job of essentially taking on any situation or foe that the world had to offer.

But neither his knowledge nor his athleticism had been enough too many times in his life. They weren't enough to make his father proud of him while he was still living and they certainly weren't enough to keep Jack McGarrett alive. They weren't enough to completely repair the broken relationship with his sister. They weren't enough to keep his marriage from falling apart. And now they weren't enough to find the love of his life who had walked back into his world and had him tied up and twisted inside…a woman who had begun to make him feel alive again.

Something was going to have to give with this case. Wo Fat was going to have to make a really stupid play. Something extraordinary was going to have to happen. And when it did…they were going to have to be ready.

Forty eight hours.

Forty eight hours since he had told her the truth that was always right there below the surface for them both…that he still loved her. That he had never really wanted to leave her behind.

Forty eight hours since she had been taken into Hell.

And he had no idea if he would ever see her again.

He knew the moment that he had laid eyes on Detective Harper Elizabeth James that he was in trouble. He couldn't help it - the woman was tough, smart, beautiful, and sexy. Steve had been completely fascinated by her - not obsessed, but fascinated. There was attraction. Electricity. Instantaneous and inexplicable, but ultimately there. Neither of them could convincingly deny it, because everyone else saw it. The teasing and the little jabs were there, whether declared loudly or muttered under someone's breath. And Steve knew the moment that he crossed the line and took her into his arms that first time that his life would never be the same…

"Detective Williams said you were asking for these."

Steve shook those thoughts out of his head and looked up to see Frankie James walk into the office and drop an evidence box on the table. Raising an eyebrow, he looked up at the detective questioningly and asked, "And what are these?"

"Some of Harper's case files from Chicago," Frank told him, taking the top off the box and leafing through one of the file folders. "She did some really thorough work."

"She usually does."

Steve nodded his thanks at his former brother in law, but Frank James didn't move.

"We practically had to restrain the guys from Chicago Homicide to keep them from coming down here to join in the search," Harper's brother said, shaking his head, "She's gonna hate the attention. She'll be pissed if those guys treat her any differently when she gets back..."

_When she gets back…_

Frank couldn't believe anything different. The over protective, big brother within him would not allow him to believe that his sister wasn't going to survive this. No matter what he had seen in all his years on the police force, no matter how many bodies they managed to tie to Wo Fat and the Yakuza…he couldn't believe it. Because Frankie James was personally involved this time. This time…it had hit too close to the very heart of who he was. The tough detective's heart was visibly been breaking underneath his calm and cool exterior as he uttered those words.

Quietly, Steve looked up at him and said, "I know this is hard, but…"

"You know this is hard?" Frank interrupted, suddenly angry. "Well, I guess that's why you carry the big gun, ain't it? Governor's personal task force, my ass…"

The Commander remained silent as he watched the emotions dance across the handsome man's face...

Anger.

Fear.

Uncertainty.

Sorrow.

Confusion.

They were all there. Buried just beneath the rugged surface.

For Steve, it was like looking in a mirror.

"She's my sister. The only one I've got," The eldest James brother admitted quietly, lowering his exhausted body down into one of the chairs across from Steve's desk. His voice became a little emotional as he went on, "It's my job...my God given right...as her brother to protect her. From everything, from everyone…the bullies on the playground to the guys that came sniffing around looking to score with her. That's how it's always been. But this time…this time we didn't see the bully coming. We were looking away, paying attention to other things. And we didn't protect her …"

His voice trailed off and the two men simply stared at each other. Frankie finally shook his head in disgust and stared at an empty coffee cup on Steve's desk as he said quietly, almost numbly, "This morning, my father came down to the lobby of the hotel and made himself a cup of coffee. Put in milk, sugar...then he went over to the sink and poured it down the drain."

The detective blinked quickly as he explained, "He didn't know what he was doing. And me…I was taking the highway to come here this morning, and I forgot to get off. I got to 95th street before I realized I didn't know where the hell I was going." Drawing in a long, ragged breath, he added sadly, "I used to have a sister, and then suddenly…"

"We're going to find her," Steve interrupted him stubbornly. "We're going to get a break in this case and then we are going to find her."

"Yeah," Frankie agreed, looking at the file box again, "I know. But what about the things that are happening to her in the meantime? Until you find her…there's no telling what that son of a bitch is doing to her. Or if she'll ever recover from it. She's tough, ya know. But she's not that tough. Nobody's that tough." Roughly wiping away tears that dared spring up in his eyes, the emotionally spent cop continued, "It can't end like this. Her story…it can't end like this. After all she's been through…"

His voice trailed off, as if he couldn't bear to finish the sentence. And, in all reality, Steve didn't know if he could bear to hear it.

But then, with strength and conviction that he didn't know he had, Steve McGarrett looked his former brother in law in the eye and said, "She's not dead. I would feel it if she were. I would feel different…empty…without her. She's not dead."

And before Frankie could agree, Mickey James ran into the office and pulled his son out of his chair in exhilaration.

"They've got her!"

Steve looked out his office windows and saw that chaos had erupted out in the bullpen. He looked back questioningly at Mickey as he explained, "In the river…they pulled a body out of the river in Akaka Falls State Park this afternoon. When they brought her to the hospital one of the doctors on duty recognized Harper from the Missing Persons alert you put out to all area medical facilities..."

"How is she?"

"She's alive," Mickey told them with a smile, heading back out the door, "And that's all that matters right now."


	22. The Men Who Love Her Pt III

**Chapter 22 – The Men Who Love Her, Part III**

"_The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life. Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof."_

~ Richard Bach

_Twenty minutes later…_

The Five-0 team joined an army of FBI Agents and worried James men as they rushed through the entrance to the Honolulu Medical Center and were quickly re-routed upstairs to the Intensive Care Unit. When the elevator doors opened, all chaos broke out.

"I want a 24 hour police protection detail on that door! Two FBI Agents…now!" Steve bellowed out, pointing at the door to Harper's room. "No one gets through. No one! And I want background checks being done on all staff who are taking care of Detective Harper James. Let's move, people!"

"Where is her doctor?" Mickey James demanded, descending upon an unsuspecting nurse behind the desk. "I want to talk to her doctor!"

"When can we see her?" Frankie asked a confused doctor as he emerged from a nearby hospital room. "Is she conscious? Is she going to be alright?"

"What the hell happened?" Danny inquired from one of the park rangers who had come from the scene and was now mingling around out in the hallway. "Where did you find her?"

"Is Detective James in any condition to answer some questions?" Chin asked to no one in particular.

Suddenly a strong, feminine voice rang out among the chaos.

"Everybody shut up!"

All heads turned to see a formidable looking woman exiting Harper's hospital room with a pissed off expression on her face. Turning to hand her chart to the young doctor standing next to her, she walked into the center of the masses and announced, "My name is Dr. Maria D'Angelo and I am the woman most of you want to talk to. But right now you are going to have to shut up and let me do the talking."

When the group settled down, Dr. D'Angelo continued in a calmer voice, "I know that Ms. James is a high priority patient to all of you, but this is my unit. And in here, EVERY patient is a high priority. My staff can't do their jobs with all of you mopes getting in the way. So, I need the family to go with my colleague Dr. Marcus here…he will update you on her condition and take you into the room a couple at a time."

Everyone watched as Mickey and Frank followed the doctor's directions and Steve caught his team watching him closely to see if he would join the family or stay out in the hallway. He stayed and turned to listen as Dr. D'Angelo continued, "The rest of you…follow me."

The sight of all those tough cops and F.B.I. agents dutifully following the petite doctor with the big mouth would have been comical if the situation hadn't been so dire. Stopping in a waiting room down the hall, Dr. D'Angelo stood up on a coffee table and addressed the agents from the Honolulu FBI office and the members of the Five-0 taskforce.

"Okay, I'm going to start by telling you what I know and then you can ask me some questions." Looking down at her chart, the doctor began, "Approximately 45 minutes ago, Harper Elizabeth James was brought into our emergency room and was immediately diagnosed with Post Traumatic Shock. Ms. James has fallen into a catatonic state, which means that she can not talk and is not responding to any sort of treatment. There's no telling when she'll be lucid. It could be hours or weeks. Her face and body have suffered severe damage in the forms of lacerations, bruising, and swelling and her right wrist is broken in two places. She suffered a slight sprain to her left ankle, but considering the heights from which she jumped…she is very lucky. One of our ER nurses performed a rape kit and it's on the way to your lab as we speak. The nurse did inform me that there was no bruising or tearing in the vaginal area…"

A collective sigh of relief went up through the group as Dr. D'Angelo continued, "Yes, that is a good sign…but gentlemen, you have to remember that this woman has been to Hell and back. She was fished out of the river in Akaka State Park by some local tourists out for a leisurely hike and happened to see her body floating nearby. It is a complete miracle that she is alive."

"The bruising," Steve asked, a grim look on his face, "is it from the fall into the river?"

The dark haired doctor frowned and shook her head, watching the Commander's face closely, "The coloring of some of the bruising tells us that she suffered very little injury from the jump into the river. No, these bruises were older…at least a day or two. That girl was beaten. Severely. To within inches of her life, I would guess." Pausing to let that image sink in, Dr. D'Angelo then said in a stronger voice, "Harper James is a fighter, but her vital signs have all meandered downhill since she arrived and everything is systematically shutting down…"

"When she was kidnapped, we found Ketamine in the blood at the scene," Kono informed the doctor, "Have you screened her for drugs?"

"Yes, we did." the doctor affirmed, looking back down at the chart in her hands. "Our initial tests show that her blood, her urine... they're clean. But we sent samples down to our labs for a more detailed analysis. We should have the results by this evening." Shaking her head, she added, "Something is doing damage that we don't have a finger on. Her vital signs are not consistent with Post Traumatic Shock. Whoever did this…"

"We know who did this," Steve interrupted, folding his arms over his chest, "Now we just have to find him."

"Well if I could help you with that one, I would," Snapping the chart closed, the doctor finished, "That's about all I can tell you. I need to get in with the family now. But we are going to monitor her and if there are any changes, we will notify you immediately."

As Dr. D'Angelo walked off down the hall toward the patient's rooms, Danny shook his head and said, "She's alive. That's all that matters. She's a fighter…no damsel in distress, I'll tell you that much. Little Miss Chicago didn't wait around for us...she saved her own damn self. So, she'll pull through. And then she'll tell us where to find Wo Fat."

"We can't wait that long." Steve informed him, quickly stuffing down all of his emotions and getting back into professional mode. "Danny, the Governor has promised us help from the FBI and her personal protection team so get all of the available men and go back to where they pulled Harper out of the river. Contact Jenna and form a search grid, combing that area. Call in search and rescue, park rangers, the Marines, everybody. She came from somewhere…and if she was drugged, she probably didn't get too far in her weakened state." Turning to Kono, he instructed, "Go down to the ER and get the clothes Harper was wearing when they brought her in and then take them back to our lab. The river may not have washed away all of our evidence." And finally, "Chin, get down to the hospital lab and find out what you can about the tests they ran on Harper. And then enlist them to help you figure out what drugs could be causing this reaction in her and who would have access to them."

Everyone scattered without a word, except for Danny, who lingered on his way to the elevators. Watching his friend knowingly, he said quietly, "It's probably best that you stay here…in case she wakes up."

Understanding exactly what he meant, Steve told him, "I know that this world doesn't hand out a lot of second chances so it's a miracle that I got her back, Danno. And I'm not going to let her out of my sight ever again."


	23. A Father's Vigil

_**I didn't think this fic would be complete without a bedside vigil chapter...or two. This one belongs to Mickey, but don't worry...Steve is getting one of his own! **_

_**Enjoy...**_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 23 – A Father's Vigil<strong>

"_A father is always making his baby into a little woman. And when she is a woman he turns her back again."_

~ Enid Bagnold

_Honolulu Medical Center, twenty four hours later…_

Michelangelo Vincent James sat quietly in the hospital room staring at her figure lying on the bed. She had been there for almost twenty four hours now and everyone had been hoping and praying for some movement. Some sign that the body of his youngest child had a soul still attached to it. As he sat in the chair previously occupied by his son Frankie, he took Harper's hand in his and looked at her for what seemed like the millionth time. Tears welling in his eyes, he couldn't handle the sight. He closed his eyes against the vision of her on a heart monitor, IV drip, and an oxygen-mask.

With nothing but the bleak, eternal night stretching before him, Mickey's world-weary mind had nothing to do other than rove the many paths of his imagination. Most led him only to how he had pictured this reunion with his daughter. He had imagined the fire in her eyes, the venomous chill in her voice as she called him every name in the book. It was entirely possible that she would throw something at him…most likely something heavy and pointed and aim it at his head…because she had inherited her mother's fiery temper. And he would let her, because he deserved it. But eventually, his little girl would forgive him. She always did. And then he would buy her dinner and they would split a bottle of her favorite wine by the fire. Or they would walk in the park, arm in arm, her head resting on his shoulder as she told him what a completely insufferable fool he was and how she didn't want him any other way.

But none of the pictures in his mind had ever included a dark, lonely hospital room, respirators, heart monitors, and never-ending silences.

Nights without sleep and days of holding back raw emotions were starting to wear on the seasoned police officer. The Superintendent walked around the room some and then came to rest in front of the window. He looked down at the bustling night of Honolulu. When his daughter had married Steve she believed that one day she would end up living in this city by the bay. She knew that one day her husband would want to move back to his childhood home and Harper had joked that Mickey and the boys should start looking for retirement property here.

After that conversation, Mickey and his little girl didn't speak for almost six months. And because of his pride and supreme stupidity, he hadn't been there to walk his little girl down the aisle at her own wedding. But she had forgiven him then…so she would forgive him this time, too.

The seasoned cop stared out at the ocean and then watched the cars come and go from the parking lot below and, after a bit, wandered back to the chair beside the bed. He looked at his darling daughter, lying there so peacefully, like an angel with her long lashes lying against her face under closed eyes.

"Hey baby," he softly spoke, lifting her small hand to his lips and kissing it softly. Her hand felt cold, even though Mickey knew there was blood pumping through it, keeping it warm. Without even realizing it, he started rubbing her small hand between his two larger ones, in a fruitless attempt to give it some heat. Then he leaned forward and started playing with the edge of her blanket...tucking it around her so that she would be warm. As he did when she was a little girl and he would tuck her into her bed at night.

"Stupid question, but how are you feeling?" he asked as he ran a shaky hand through her hair, a sniffle escaping his lips. Quietly, he said, "You don't know how much this hurts, Harper, sitting here hour after hour, waiting, watching… hoping that this will be the moment that you wake up. The moment that your eyes flutter open and again look into mine with such love and joy. The moment when your skin grows less pale, and your hand finally responds to my constant grip."

Watching her serene face once more for a sign of recognition and receiving none, he continued to talk to the darkness, "I'm not one for bedside vigil's, baby girl. But here I am sitting in this uncomfortable chair while you sleep…holding your hand and weeping like a child." Her father laughed a heartless little laugh as he said, "You would be so ashamed of me. I know what you'd say, too. You'd tell me to go back to Chicago, get some sleep, that you were feeling fine and not to worry about you. And I, of course, would know that you were lying. So thank you for not waking up during those times. I couldn't bear it if you saw me like that, broken and hopeless. You always have been stronger than I am, Harper. You don't have to prove it like this."

He hadn't eaten in over twenty hours and hadn't slept since God knows when. His daughter should have been yelling at him to take care of himself, but instead she was unconscious, her alabaster skin the color of talcum powder. Fear crept into his heart, as Mickey desperately turned his attention to the monitors around her, checking that the constant beep was still evading the silence of the still room, and that the green line was still bopping up and down to the relentless rhythm.

"_Just keep talking to her. Wherever she is, I know she can hear you."_

Looking around the dark hospital room, dimly lit by only the moonlight coming through her window, Mickey James recalled the doctor's words as he took a deep breath and started to talk…

"Your room is one of the lucky ones to have a window out onto the outside world. Tonight the moon is casting a peaceful glow over the city, the sun having gone down hours ago. And yet I'm still here. I'm not the only one, though. You should see that waiting area." Mickey let out another little laugh, this one not quite so heartless as he told his daughter, "The boys are all here…Tommy and Bobby arrived a few hours ago and I'm surprised they managed to wait that long. They've been bothering the doctors and nurses pretty much nonstop since they arrived. And the Five-0 team, the FBI, and the Governor's private security team have set up shop in the waiting room down the hall. Your ex-husband certainly does know how to put on a show. The Governor herself even came by a few hours ago to offer her support. All of those people are just waiting for some good news. None of them have slept in days either and I think the hospital staff just wants them to go home..."

Running his hand through his hair, Mickey shook all thoughts of the waiting area out of his head and kept on talking. "Just like everyone else, I haven't slept in...I can't even remember how long...but I know I won't until you wake up. Funny, isn't it? You'll wake up, and then I'll sleep. I can't sleep at the same time, like normal people, because this isn't a normal situation. I need to know that you're alright...awake...alive, before I can tend to my own needs."

The Superintendent shook his head at that...how could she possibly wake up and be alright? He looked at his child lying in the ICU attached to a maze of wires and tubes, surrounded by monitors and drips, it was difficult to believe she would ever be okay again.

"I know you hate all this. The mask that covers your features, the machine that breathes for you. You've never liked relying on anything else. Or anyone else. You were always the strong one, the one who could keep going, the one who went too far. And now...I listen to you breathing, each suck-hiss of the respirator assuring me that you still live." He drew in a ragged breath and said, "It's all too familiar, you know. I sat in a room like this talking to your mom and then to Vinnie…it didn't turn out too well for us those times. You're going be the death of me, young one, if you keep this up. I don't know how much more any of us can take."

He looked again at his daughter lying there on the warm sterilized bed and Mickey lost himself in his thoughts for awhile longer, then shook them away as Harper would want him to do.

"I have to stop thinking this way." he said. "Every time I do, the tears threaten to cascade down my cheeks, and I can't let anyone see me cry. My God, I don't even know who I'm hiding my tears from anymore. All I know is that those tears which are still left inside me will stay there and I will reserve them to shed in joy and relief when you wake up. This is the way I live my life. I have to remain strong, because that's what everyone expects. Even when my heart is broken…"

"Mickey."

The Superintendent hadn't even heard Steve enter the room and didn't know how much of his conversation with his daughter the S.E.A.L. had overheard. But there was no going back now. And he knew the younger man understood.

"I could look at that face forever and not tire of seeing it," Mickey whispered, taking her small hand in his once again. "She is so beautiful, both inside and out. Just like her mother."

"When I was off on missions, I would close my eyes and picture that face," Steve replied softly, moving fully into the room and going over to stand by the window. Crossing his arms over his chest, he looked down at his ex-wife and added, "Those eyes, that smile, the smattering of freckles she refused to admit she had. It got me through a lot of tough times."

Mickey let out a tired sigh and kissed his daughter's hand as he nodded at Steve's words. Sensing that the older man needed a break, Steve continued, "The first time I met your daughter, she ignored me. The second time we met, she insulted me…a few times. And the third time…we argued. The first of many, as it turned out." Shaking his head and smiling at the memory, the Commander added, "And somewhere in the middle of all of that, I knew my life was never going to be the same again."

"I understand exactly what you're talking about," Harper's father agreed, looking lovingly down at his little girl. "I felt that way the moment they set her in my arms on the day she was born. She gets under your skin, doesn't she? And then when the walls come tumbling down, she works her way into your heart. She's tough. She tries to hide it. She's difficult. But if you make an effort, she's worth it." Looking up at his former son in law, he added emotionally, "She's worth the effort."

Steve simply nodded in response because the lump of emotion in his throat had rendered him mute. Sensing this, Mickey continued, "She's my little girl...well, she used to be. Now she's a beautiful, grown woman. A cop. She chose to spend her life saving people. But you know, I can still remember the wishes that she made when she blew out the candles on her seventh birthday cake. She wanted to ride a Harley when she was big enough and she wanted to marry her daddy when she was all grown up."

Mickey's voice cracked and he could feel his throat begin to tighten. He paused a moment to get himself in check and then said, "But she married you instead. And she grew up and moved away from home and…"

"It's okay, Mickey…"

"No, it's not okay. I missed so much. I wasn't there when she needed me the most…again." Without taking his eyes off of his daughter, Mickey reminded Steve, "I lost my wife, my son, and my partner to this job. I won't lose my little girl." Bending close to her sleeping form, he brushed his lips across her forehead and whispered, "I would do anything for you, Harper. The only thing that's kept me going all these years was knowing that you were waiting for me." His voice strengthened as he said, "So, it can't end like this. Not before I get to tell her all the things that have gone unsaid."

Mickey sighed heavily and stood up to stretch, but there was no motion from Harper. No acknowledgment of what he had said to her. But somehow, that incessant beeping of his daughter's heart monitor was soothing, stupefying, and all he could do was watch the steady rise and fall of her chest as air was forced into it, up and down. Mickey took a moment of deliberate silence, then looked up at Steve and finally whispered, "I would die for her, but I'd rather protect her from anything that would harm her. Sometimes I think we waste our words and we waste our moments, and we don't take the time to say the things that are in our hearts when we have the chance."

Leaning forward to kiss her forehead, Mickey rubbed his palms up and down his thighs as he looked over at Steve and said, "It's hell to get old, McGarrett. I think these old bones need to rattle around a little bit before they lock up on me completely." Heading toward the door, he said, "I'm going to get a cup of coffee. You want me to bring you back one?"

Steve nodded and Mickey paused again as he began to open the door, saying, "You're right, Commander. Your life is never going to be the same again. That little girl has a way of changing everything." Stealing another glance at his beloved daughter, he added softly, "For the better."


	24. Second Chances

**Chapter 24 – Second Chances**

_"What makes life worth living is knowing that one day you'll wake up and find the person that makes you happier than anything in the whole world. So don't ever lose hope and give up, everything turns out okay and the good guy always wins."_

~Author Unknown

_Honolulu Medical Center, later that afternoon…_

"Her fever is still too high," the nurse said quietly, checking on Harper's vital signs as she stood above the bed and looked down into the detective's sleeping face. "It is as if she is at the mercy of her own immune system..."

"Yes, but I believe we have finally isolated the drug that was given to her and have come up with an antidote," Dr. D'Angelo nodded as she began to administer the antidote drug into Harper's IV. Looking back over her shoulder at Steve, who was leaning against a far wall and watching the entire procedure, she remarked, "Thanks to detective Chin, we believe that Bromazepam was Wo Fat's drug of choice. A severe Bromazepam overdose may result in a coma of this type, as well as the tremors, convulsions, and hallucinations. It also would have kept her submissive while in captivity."

Pursing her lips, the doctor shook her head and looked down at her patient, "Captivity…listen to me talking about you as if you were some kind of wild animal. I sure hope you didn't hear that, detective." Administering the last of the drug, she finished matter of factly, "That should do it."

"How long before we know if it worked?"

"We have to give it at least a few hours to circulate through her system. The poor girl had enough Bromazepam in her system to kill her." Dr. D'Angelo stated, looking down once more at her important patient. "It's all up to Miss Harper now."

Harper appeared to be sound asleep…a restless sleep, but sleep nonetheless. But the moment that Dr. D'Angelo's gentle hands touched her, the detective moaned. Her bruised face twisted into a stark, fearful mask. It was almost as if Steve, the doctor, and the nurse were transported back to that dirty, little cell with her. The terror was palpable, scary.

"She'll calm down in a minute. Let's give the drug a chance to work." Dr. D'Angelo instructed calmly, smiling down at Harper and motioning for Steve to come closer and hold her hand to soothe her.

As if on cue, Harper began to settle down and drifted back into a deep sleep. The doctor then reconnected the heart monitor because of her injuries and moved away from the bed. She turned her eyes to the handsome ex-S.E.A.L. and watched Steve watch Harper as he lovingly took her smaller hand in both of his larger ones and drew it up to his lips. Finally, she said quietly, "You should stay."

Steve looked at her in surprise and was about to protest as Dr. D'Angelo continued, "This woman is a fighter. I say that the drug we just administered to her will counteract the effects of the Bromazepam in a couple of hours, but it could be sooner than that. Bromazepam can result in memory loss, so you'll want to get any information that you can out of her as soon as she regains consciousness."

Steve nodded, never taking his eyes off of the bed where she lay. Moving over to the door of the hospital room, Maria D'Angelo turned back and told the Commander, "A person's will to live is as powerful as any drug we could have come up with. And, from what I have seen over the last few days, Harper James has plenty of reasons to want to live. Maybe you should remind her of that."

Steve listened to the door close behind the doctor's retreating form and concentrated on the beautiful face of the woman who kept turning his world upside down every time she arrived on the scene.

The lights in the room were dim but they didn't do a very good job at hiding the stark white, sterile quality of the place, and it only seemed to make the soft beeping of the medical equipment sound ten times louder. The only movement in the room was that of his large, muscled hand with warm skin as it gently moved over her delicate arm. The soft touch was not responded to in any way by the young woman who laid on the bed trying to fight the drug that would help her sleep, while the other drugs tried to make her better.

McGarrett was mentally and physically exhausted. He had been stretching himself thinner than usual as he tried to coordinate with the FBI and the Governor's private security team and run the investigation from the hospital waiting room instead of the squad room.

But Steven John McGarrett had experienced plenty of long nights in his life. He just hadn't experienced any quite so emotional in a long time.

For most of the past few nights, Steve had stayed locked away down in the waiting area. But every once in awhile, he would wander down to Harper's room and relieve her father or one of her brothers standing guard in her room. On those nights, Steve simply sat in this very same chair at his ex-wife's bedside and watched her breathe. It was such a simple thing. Something people take for granted all the time. As he sat and watched the rise and fall of Harper's chest, he realized what a gift each precious breath truly was.

Sometimes Harper would have an outburst like the one they just experienced. And Steve would do exactly what he was doing now…hold her hand and whisper soft, soothing words. And hope. Hope that something would happen to change this desperate situation.

Sighing deeply and leaning back in the chair, her ex-husband smirked. "Your brothers are all here. I didn't think there could be anyone who was a bigger pain in my ass than you or Danny, but I was wrong. Because there they are, in the hospital corridors. Frankie, Bobby, Tommy…I still don't think they like me very much. Which is confusing, since they never wanted me to marry you in the first place. You'd think that me leaving all those years ago would make the situation easier, but apparently that is not the case. I guess I could take comfort in the fact that they don't seem to like the doctors or nurses either..." He shook his head with a grin. "Your dad, on the other hand, had been pretty tolerant. In fact, I think he gave me some advice about not giving up on you before he left the room earlier. Or, it could be that lack of sleep and nutrition are making me delusional."

Taking a deep breath, Steve continued, "You're scaring me, do you know that? I'm really scared. Are you happy now? I think this is what you wanted all along. You pulled this whole stunt so that I would realize that I had made a mistake all those years ago. To show me that I should've chosen you the way that you always chose me. So, here I am...completely terrified, vulnerable, and at your mercy. And I have to tell you, this is a pretty effective technique."

Commander McGarrett, a man who'd once considered himself fearless, was terrified. He was scared that if he closed his eyes and gave in to sleep, he'd awaken to find that Harper's chest had gone still and the sweet rhythm of her steady breathing had given way to silence and stillness. He 'd watched as Harper had fidgeted in her sleep, a lock of hair falling across her face, her lips pursing thoughtfully. He wanted to memorize her every expression, to take in the sweep of her cheekbone and the fringe of her eyelashes. To mentally capture every aspect of her into his brain.

Steve's eyes darkened at the thought, his stomach twisting painfully. No, he told himself decisively, that wasn't going to happen. The thought that Harper might die was too much for Steve to handle. He wouldn't let his mind go there for long. He couldn't. He had just gotten her back. He couldn't lose her again already.

_I shouldn't worry_, he thought to himself. _She's a fighter. And a James. Look at all she has survived so far._

He took a few moments to gaze at her beautiful face. Even though her skin was pale and drawn from the illness, she was still so beautiful. He lifted her hand up to his lips and kissed the back of it, letting his lips linger on the warmth of her skin. At least she wasn't cold and lifeless anymore, so there was still hope.

Steve continued to watch her sleep as he quietly whispered, "You look like an angel when you're asleep. Even with the tubes, and the weight you've lost during your capture, you are without a doubt the most beautiful woman in the world." Seeming to drift back into the past, he said, "My angel. The radiant light that broke into my dark world and pulled me back from the abyss more times than I can count. You've saved me in so many ways. And I'm not even sure I can save you just this once.

"We are so much alike, you and I. We've both spent a good portion of our lives hiding from the pain that life has found necessary to inflict on us. We go about it in opposite ways, but we're doing the same thing. I am willing to admit that now. That's what's so infuriating. We really are alike, and complement each other perfectly, so of course fate had to throw us together this way. And then in the cruelest of all twists, just when we are starting to connect again and get our mess of a relationship sorted out, life pulls us apart. Because why the hell should any of this be easy, hmmm?"

Steve let his rhetorical question linger in the silence of her hospital room as he continued, "But I decided a few nights ago that I refuse to lose you. Nope, not going to let you go without a fight. Because that's the way we do things, after all. Everything with us is a fight, so why should this be any different? And I know that you think I am selfish, so I might as well use that to my advantage. And this is the most selfish thing I've ever asked of you, Jimmy, but you have got to fight this for me. Because there is still so much left to say..."

McGarrett could feel the emotion of his voice catch in his throat and stopped himself for a moment. He would not let her see him cry. She would use it as ammunition for years to come. Regaining the strength back in his voice, he whispered, "There's still so much I have to tell you. I wanted to wait until you woke up to tell you this, but I don't think it will hurt to tell you now. I can always tell you again when you open your eyes. Besides, telling you now means you can't interrupt me with your witty comebacks and insults."

He rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb as he confessed, "I never stopped loving you. Not once, in all of these years. I tried. I really did. But you've always had this hold on me that I couldn't explain. And it's not like I haven't had plenty of opportunities to replace you, because I have. Gorgeous women…Navy groupies, surfer girls, you name it. But not one of them measures up to you…not one."

"God, I wish you would smile," he continued, rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb. "I miss that. The way your lips twitch slightly whenever you're trying to be serious and hold back laughter. Then, there were the lazy smiles when we woke up in the morning. It never mattered what we had done that night, you would always look on me with such wonder and love. Lazy and warm. I never wanted to leave the folds of your arms. But the best was when you smiled that special smile that I convinced myself you saved just for mer. Pure. Uninhibited. Perfect. Brilliant. It lit up the entire world. Well, at least my corner of the world and that was all that mattered."

Steve trailed a finger down Harper's delicate cheek, trying to memorize her face and couldn't keep a lump from forming in his throat as he told her, "I can't remember the last time I told you how beautiful I think you are. You radiate beauty…natural beauty, that comes from a beautiful place inside. It takes my breath away sometimes." He paused, and then said in a gentle voice, "I never told you how much you make me want to be a better person. You do what you think is right, no matter what. You defend the people and the things and the ideas that mean the most to you, even when it means that the fallout is going to be brutal. Strength like that is really rare, especially in someone your size, and it makes me want to have that kind of courage. You challenge me and I love how hard you make me work to make my point. Very few people in this life challenge me...and I love a good challenge."

The leader of 5-0 inhaled a long, ragged breath and wondered what had brought on this trip down memory lane. In the last week, Steve had been filled with memories he thought he had buried long ago. But from the moment she walked back into his universe, they started coming back. Just as clear and as vivid as they had been ten years ago. Harper's presence was so strong in his life. He could remember the way she felt in his arms. How her lips tasted and the way her green eyes lit up when she looked at him. Those thoughts didn't ease the pain of facing the fact that he could really lose her, but it was the only thing he could do.

Steve was filled with the need to be at Harper's bedside when he should really be out there trying to find Wo Fat. But, as they had so many times before, he team had his back. They were working round the clock so that he didn't have to. So that he could be right here, seeing for himself that she still drew breath.

Brushing a strand of hair back off her forehead, Steve whispered, "Jimmy, do you remember when we first met and you promised me that you would always be careful? It was a weak moment and I told you that you being hurt was the only thing I was truly afraid of. And so you promised. Do you remember? I do. I may not have acted it like it lately, but I remember it all."

Steve didn't know that having Harper out of his life could hurt so much until he came face to face with the reality that she could die. When people talked about love and being heartbroken, he couldn't understand it before. He thought those were just words used to keep a person in line...to make them feel guilty, to make them feel like they owed the other person something. Now he knew he was wrong. The words meant something and now, he knew firsthand what it was to love and to have your heart break into a million pieces.

"I'm sorry for what I did to you. To us. To the memory of us." he whispered, his voice thick with emotion. "I know that's too little, too late now. But that's just another reason why you have to wake up. So I can tell you all the things I should have said. So I can ask you to forgive me..."

Steve drew in another deep breath and teased, "Okay, I'm pouring my soul out to you here, Jimmy. The least you could do is open your eyes and give me a sign. Your eyes have told me so much ever since I've known you. They darken and flash fire when you're passionate or angry. They shed tears when you're sad and need someone to make you feel safe once again. They shine when you're happy and in those moments when you laugh. You can't ever hide from me when you're scared since your eyes will tell me all about it. But you need to open them now so I can get some sense of what's going on inside there."

Harper's eyes didn't even flicker and Steve knew he had been asking for too much. She wasn't just going to miraculously wake up because he wanted her to. It didn't work that way. But as he sat there in the growing shadows of the afternoon, his fingers absently running over her knuckles, Steve McGarrett realized that if his Jimmy needed him to, he'd wait forever.

Just to look into her eyes once more.


	25. Letting Go

**_Okay Catherine fans, you knew this was coming. When I changed the direction of the storyline, my plans for Catherine's part in it fell by the wayside. But I had to bring her back to tie up this loose end. I tried to treat her kindly..._**

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><p><strong>Chapter 25 – Letting Go<strong>

"_Letting go doesn't mean giving up, but rather accepting that there are things that cannot be."_

~ Anonymous

_Outside Harper James' hospital room at the Honolulu Medical Center…_

Lieutenant Catherine Rollins always hated hospitals.

She hated the perfect and pristine whiteness of everything. She hated the clean and sterile smell, because it was just so fake, so artificial. It was inhuman to be this clean.

But most of all, she hated it because it was a place of death. There was the cold chill you got when you passed the morgue, knowing dead bodies lay within; dead bodies who used to be people's friends, siblings, other halves. Every time she walked in, she was reminded of death, and how no one will be saved from death in the end. People _died_ in hospitals, and their memories would be erased without even being given a second thought about, fading into nothingness...leaving behind not a single trace of evidence that they had once existed.

That creeped her out. And not a lot of things could creep Catherine out.

She always hated hospitals.

Commander Steve McGarrett once told her she was overreacting, that hospitals were there to help people; there to keep people alive. But as she stood outside Detective Harper James' hospital room and watched the Commander's heart break over the patient lying in the bed beside him, she knew that he had been lying. As she listened to the man she loved profess is undying love for an ex-wife Catherine hadn't even known existed, she knew that the dedicated doctors who were working round the clock to save the Harper's life were also taking her lover away from her.

She always hated hospitals.

Steve sat alone next to Harper's bed with an unusually soft expression on his handsome face, waiting silently for something that would make her open her eyes again. Catherine hadn't known until a few hours ago that Steve even had an ex-wife, let alone that they had been working together. Add on top of that the fact that the Chicago detective had been kidnapped and while Steve and the Five-O team had tried moving heaven and earth to find her, she had managed to escape on her own.

_That figured_, Catherine thought shrewdly as she focused on the red headed woman's serene face. _The love of Steve McGarrett's life wouldn't have been some damsel in distress waiting for her prince to ride to the rescue. Nope, he was one of the few heroes around without a hero complex. So of course Steve would marry the heroine…the one who stood side by side with him in battle._

The lieutenant knew something was wrong the moment she stepped out of the elevator and into the empty Five-0 headquarters. Call it woman's intuition, if you will, but she had long ago learned the hard way to trust her gut. Something wasn't right, but of course Catherine couldn't find the source of her unease as she scanned the empty bullpen and all of the desks that looked as if their occupants had run out of there in a hurry. It would have been too easy to deduce the real reason for the goose bumps marching up her back as analyst Jenna Kaye told Catherine about the events of the past week…the kidnapping, the manhunt, the escape, the hospital, the ex-wife.

She knew she shouldn't have come to the hospital. Catherine knew in the pit of her stomach that the evening wasn't going to end the way she had planned when she had carefully selected the body hugging red dress and matching stiletto heels. She knew that they wouldn't have that dinner that they had planned to share...they wouldn't have it later, they probably wouldn't have it ever.

But she came anyway. Because he had an ex-wife. An ex-wife that he hadn't told her about even though that ex-wife was in Hawaii working alongside him to find the man who had murdered his parents. And she just had to see it for herself.

The moment she stopped at the doorway of the Chicago detective's hospital room, Catherine knew she had made a mistake. Seeing it didn't make it any easier. She should have trusted her gut and stayed away. If she had stayed away she wouldn't have seen him raise Harper's lifeless hand to his lips as he apologized for walking away from their marriage and begged for another chance to make it right.

At the same moment, in the hallway of the Honolulu Medical Center, war weary Navy Intelligence Officer Catherine Rollins finally found out the real definition of pain: knowing that you love someone, and knowing that it's too late—they love another.

Catherine felt as if her heart was being ripped right out of her chest. She knew that Steve had never seen her as more than a "friend with benefits" and she told herself that she was okay with that situation. But she wasn't okay. Because she had fallen hard for the stoic and driven Naval Commander. Do you know that feeling when you first see someone and you're not only drawn to him, but you've just got to have him? You want all of him - physically, emotionally and intellectually. That's how it was for her. Steve McGarrett seemed perfect for Catherine - mature, confident, established. A man among boys. They were very compatible, and soon the idea of being together just made sense.

But something inside of her always knew this day was going to come. A man like Steve didn't stay single for that long without some further explanation. She always knew that some woman somewhere had to have been smart enough to stake her claim on Steven John McGarrett. And that woman must have done a number on him. And now she knew…that woman had been a detective named Harper James.

On their last date…the night she had met Harper, to be exact…Catherine began to have this uneasy feeling that something just wasn't right. Call it woman's intuition, call it a gut feeling, but in her heart Catherine knew he had been pulling away from her.

And now she knew why.

Turning to leave, the Naval lieutenant ran smack into the chest of a tall, broad shouldered stranger she hadn't even known was standing nearby.

"Ooh," she grunted softly as the hulking man reached out to steady her, "I'm sorry. I didn't even see you there."

"It's alright," he assured her, smiling down at her with kind eyes, "I didn't want to say something and startle you…you looked lost in thought."

Glancing back into the room over her shoulder, Catherine smiled wryly and answered, "Something like that."

"Is she a friend of yours?"

Realizing that he was talking about Harper, she quickly shook her head and informed him, "No, I've never met her." Sensing his confused expression, she added helpfully, "I'm a friend of Steve's…or so I thought."

The older man narrowed his eyes and repeated her words back to her, "So you thought?"

"I think things are about to change."

He suddenly understood and nodded as he asked, "You're the Commander's girlfriend?"

"Sort of."

"Sort of?"

Suddenly feeling the need to clarify things to this stranger, she explained, "We've never really classified what we are, but I don't think that conversation needs to happen now." Looking back into Harper's room, the brunette beauty added quietly, "She's his ex-wife."

"I know," the stranger answered just as quietly.

"Well, I didn't," Catherine informed him, looking back up at the attractive gentleman, "Until today. Are you a colleague of Detective James'?"

"No," he replied with a shake of his head, "I'm her father."

_Of course_, Catherine thought, as if she needed any more bombshells dropped on her head. Out loud, she said, "Oh. Oh wow. I'm so sorry." Looking up at Harper's father, the dark haired woman fumbled, "Wow. That must have sounded so selfish. Your daughter is in there fighting for her life and I'm rambling on about getting ousted out of a relationship I'm not sure I was a part of in the first place…"

"It's fine," Mickey reassured her, trying to hide the beginnings of a smile.

"No, it's not," Catherine disagreed, "I'm sorry about your daughter, Mr…?"

"James," he answered, "Mickey James."

"The Chicago Police Superintendent?"

Mickey chuckled as he replied, "I didn't know I was so famous."

"My sister and her husband live in Chicago," Catherine explained, moving away from the hospital room door, "She works for the Oprah Winfrey Show."

"Nice gig," the Superintendent answered.

"Yes, it is," she replied before they lapsed into an uncomfortable silence. Finally, Catherine said, "Well, I should go…"

"Don't you want to see Commander McGarrett?"

"No," she answered shaking her head and refusing to look into the room again, "He's busy. I shouldn't have come here. I'll just call him later…"

"He was sitting with Harper to give me a break so I could walk around a little," Mickey informed her, "I'm back now, so you could probably…"

"No," Catherine repeated. And then she said, more to herself than to Mickey, "And he wasn't just sitting there to give you a break."

"Pardon me?"

Realizing she had said the words out loud, she looked up into his dark eyes and stated, "He's there because he wants to be there. I'm pretty sure he would be sitting there even if you weren't taking a break…."

"They're divorced," the Superintendent reminded the young woman, "They have been for some time."

Laughing humorlessly, Catherine told him softly, "There are some people who meet that somebody that they can never stop loving, no matter how hard they try. There are some loves that don't go away. And your daughter had found that…in Steve. We should all be lucky enough to end up with somebody who never lets go. Someone who cherishes you forever."

Cocking his head to the side and regarding the Naval lieutenant with tired eyes, Mickey asked, "And you gathered all of that from standing here in my daughter's doorway for a few minutes?"

"A few minutes was all it took," she assured him and then cursed herself as she looked once again at Steve and added wistfully, "Look at how he looks at her. We never had that. He never felt that way about me. And he never will." Looking back up at Harper's father, Catherine smiled and said, "And I'm not just saying this because you're her father. Or because I feel bad that your child is lying in a hospital bed, believe me. I don't even know you. Or her. But I do know him. And I can't compete with that. He's not having an affair. He's not trying to hurt me. He's just..."

"He loves her," Mickey finished for her, studying his former son-in-law with new eyes, "He always has."

"Yeah," Catherine whispered quietly and then said in a stronger voice joked, "I guess that leaves me all dressed up with no place to go."

Mickey tore his eyes away from the man in love with his daughter and looked back at the young Naval officer as he said, "I'm sorry. If circumstances were different, I would offer to…"

"No," she interrupted with a laugh, "No, the last thing I need is a pity date from the father of my ex-boyfriend's ex-wife." When she saw him smiling down at her, Catherine added truthfully, "But thanks for the offer. And for being a gentleman. There aren't too many of your kind left out there."

"I'm sure you'll find one…"

"Cat, what are you doing here?"

Both Mickey and Catherine turned to see Steve coming out of Harper's hospital room. And before Catherine could fumble her way towards an answer, Mickey replied smoothly, "Commander, it seems that you owe this woman some dinner. Or at least a crappy cup of hospital coffee."

And without another word to either of them, Mickey moved past Steve and into his daughter's hospital room. Leaving the two of them out in the hall, simply staring at each other.

Finally, Steve said, "I guess you've heard…"

"That you were married? To his daughter?" Cat asked, trying to hide her hurt with sarcasm, "Yeah, I've heard."

"I was trying to figure out a way to tell you," he tried to explain, knowing that anything he said would sound pretty pathetic, "But then Jimmy got kidnapped and …"

"Jimmy?" Catherine repeated and then practically snorted as she mocked, "You have pet names for each other?"

"Cat…"

"Look, I should go," she interrupted, trying to move past him toward the elevators. But he blocked her exit.

"I'm sorry."

His quiet words were like the nail in her heart's coffin. Today was the first and only occasion she'd ever wished she could stop time. Rewind it to happier places, happier memories. Instead, time kept right on moving, right into the conversation she didn't want to have, knew she couldn't avoid. He stood before her, his face a mask of misery. Hands clenched into tight fists hung at his sides; she could hear his knuckles pop as he clenched them even tighter.

Her face was wet with tears, her emotions mirroring the expression on his face. She hated this feeling, didn't want things to come to this. Finally looking up at him, Cat whispered, "I know."

Steve's jaw clenched and she watched his fists open and close, saw the marks his fingernails had made on his palms while he felt guilty for being the cause of her sorrow. But the only thing he said was, "I never thought I would see her again. And then last week, there she was…here in Hawaii. And…"

"You realized you still loved her," she finished for him. And when their eyes met, her heart stopped at the look she saw there.

"When I walked away from Harper, in that moment, I thought I had lost the whole world and everything in it," Steve tried to explain, not realizing that his words were causing Catherine more pain, "I was left with the knowledge that no matter how much love we give away, we always end up losing. But I realize now that I was wrong. Not all love goes. Some love stays. If you give it a chance…"

"So you're getting a second chance?" Catherine asked quietly. "Well, that's great. Not for me, obviously. But if it's what you really want…"

"Cat…"

"No, it's okay," Catherine said, backing away from him and wiping her tears away, "I get it. You want her. You want her like I want you. You love her, like I love you. The only difference is she loves you back, the same way... and you deserve that, OK? And I'm not gonna be the one who stands in the way of you getting that. So, you're free, Steve…you can do whatever you want."

"Don't leave it like this, please," Steve pleaded, stepping closer and causing her to step back again, "I don't want you to be upset..."

"I'm not upset. I'm…disappointed," she told him, trying to hold on to her dignity, "I'm disappointed that you felt like you had to hide what was going on in your head, in your heart. I'm disappointed you didn't trust me enough to tell me the truth. I'm disappointed that you pretended you felt anything for me, other than friendship, in the first place."

"I never pretended," he whispered. "Never…"

"You just love her more, right?" Catherine asked, wondering why she was so insistent on prolonging this, "It's okay to admit it…I think we both know the answer to that question anyway."

More tears spilled from her eyes, dripped, hot and wet, down her cheeks, off her chin as she said, "That's love right - when you know somebody better than they do and you would do anything in the world to protect them? I know that's what love is because that is what I am feeling right now. For you. And what you're feeling right now…for her."

Steve couldn't argue because she was right. Catherine was pouring her heart out to him, but he didn't know what to say to make any of this better. He smiled sadly, almost wistfully and reached for her. His hand came up, stroked gently across her cheek, across her lips, through her hair. Catherine closed her eyes, savored the feel of his rough fingers against her skin. He always knew just exactly how to give her goosebumps.

He pressed a tender kiss to her forehead, his lips lingering against her skin as though trying to memorize the feel. And then it was over.

"I'm sorry, Cat."

The dark haired beauty smiled through her tears as his hand fell away, and then he was gone. She opened her eyes long enough to see him disappear into Harper's hospital room. And when the door closed behind him, Lieutenant Catherine Rollins could almost hear the door slam shut on that chapter of her life.


	26. Back to Reality

_**Sorry about the delay, dear readers! I was having computer issues. And life issues. But both seem to be cleared up now, so we're back to fanfiction! I have realized just how dark this fic got, so I have included another flashback to lighten the mood a little and get us back to why we fell for Steve and Harper in the first place. I hope this chapter was worth waiting for...**_

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><p><strong>Chapter 26 – Back to Reality<strong>

_"Feelings are not supposed to be logical. Dangerous is the man who has rationalized his emotions." _

~David Borenstein

_Cancun, Mexico, ten years earlier…_

_Steve McGarrett loved to watch his wife sleep. She was so beautiful and serene. Her beautiful, sun-kissed skin was so tan against the white sheets of the bed and a thousand times softer. Harper's beautiful red hair fell softly on the pillow between them, tickling his nose as he nuzzled in closer. He inhaled that beautiful fragrance of hers that he had become so accustomed to over the last few months. Sweet and flowery...and so sexy. He shifted ever so slightly, trying hard not to wake her, and bent his elbow so that he could prop his head on his hand. She didn't even stir, so content in her sleep. He could watch her this way forever. Against his better judgment, his thoughts turned to the fact that they didn't have forever. They only had a precious few days left on their honeymoon before they had to return to the real world... _

_Steve shook all thoughts of their impending move to San Diego out of his head as he looked down at her again and just couldn't resist the invitingly soft skin of her shoulder that peeked out over the sheet. He gently began to kiss the freckles that had appeared on her skin as a result of her recent hours in the Mexican sunshine._

_Harper stirred lazily in her sleep and a satisfied smile came to her lips. She loved the feel of his early morning stubble against her bare skin. Followed by the heat of his breath and the whisper kiss of his soft lips. She opened her eyes and turned to face him, allowing her lips to experience the same pleasure that her shoulder had just encountered._

"_Did I wake you?" he teased, as their lips parted after a long, sexy kiss. She murmured something unintelligible and then buried her face in his neck, softly kissing her way down until she came to rest on his strong, broad chest. She happily laid her head against that chest and he stroked the long strands of her hair. Oh the things she did to every one of his senses. _

"_I can't believe that I'm actually Mrs. Steven John McGarrett and that we are on our honeymoon together. In paradise." Harper finally said, smoothing her cheek against his skin. "This place is so beautiful..." She traced small circles along the muscular frame of his chest as he mimicked her movements with the hand that had come to rest on the small of her back. "So, what do you want to do today?"_

"_I'm doing it right now," He murmured, leaning down and kissing the top of her head. _

"_Sounds good to me," Harper murmured in reply, lifting her head so that their lips met in another passionate kiss. When they broke apart, the redhead whispered with a smile, "But after last night's marathon workout, I'm going to need a little sustenance."_

"_Your wish is my command," Steve answered with a grin, reluctantly rolling away from her and lifting his naked form off the bed. Harper sat up, pulling the sheet over her exposed breasts and admired the view of her husband from behind as he moved across the room to lift a covered tray off of the table near the door. Turning back to her, he said, "Breakfast is served."_

"_I thought we were going to the buffet by the pool?"_

_Steve smirked as he came back to sit next to her on the bed. "Well, I didn't know if you were ever going to wake up this morning, so I took the liberty of making sure the buffet came to us." He lifted the lid off the silver and glass tray to reveal a beautifully put together assortment of tropical fruits. Strawberries, melons, papayas, kiwi, star fruit, and banana all surrounded a small cup of chocolate sauce in the middle of the colorful arrangement. But instead of being thrilled by his breakfast selections, Harper looked a bit strange. _

"_What's wrong?" _

"_Nothing." She replied, biting her lip to keep from hiding her disappointment._

"_Liar."_

_He knew her too well. So she simply said, "It's fruit."_

_Steve chuckled and replied, "Well, it's good to know that all that lovemaking from last night didn't have an effect on your powers of observation," and then quickly ducked out of the way before she smacked him as he reminded her, "You like fruit." _

"_I know," she said with a shrug._

"_Fruit is very good for you," her husband continued with a teasing tone to his lecture. "And we are in paradise. This is where they do fruit best."_

"_I am a big fan of fruit," Harper said, glancing at the tray again._

"_But...?" he prodded, trying to hide his grin._

"_We're on vacation, Steven! You don't eat fruit on vacation," Harper finally exclaimed in exasperation. "You do things you wouldn't normally do. And if you do eat fruit, you eat it on top of something...like a stack of pancakes. Or stuffed inside a crepe."_

"_Trust me," he answered, smiling at her and pushing a stray lock of her hair off her forehead, "fruit is the best choice."_

"_Why?" she challenged him._

"_Because you can't do this with a pancake." He told her matter of factly as he lifted a strawberry to her lips and encouraged her to take a bite. She did and the juices from the sweet fruit filled her mouth. _

_Savoring the taste on her tongue, she smiled and teased, "You can't feed me pancakes?" _

"_Shhhh," he whispered seductively and Harper smiled as she waited for another sweet taste. But instead of offering her a second enticing bite, he took the strawberry and it's exposed juices and ran it down her neck. Juices flowed freely from the red berry and trailed along her skin, followed closely by her husband's tongue as he lapped up the sticky sweetness the strawberry left in its wake. Harper moaned softly and Steve smiled into her neck. _

"_Trust me now?" he asked against her skin, as his warm breath tickled her already heightened senses._

"_More." Was all that Harper could say as she tried to recover from the assault of sweet kisses he was lavishing on her neck._

_The S.E.A.L. grinned wickedly as he picked up another strawberry and swirled it in chocolate sauce before he brought it slowly over to her lips. She eagerly bit off a taste, savoring the heavenly combination of chocolate and strawberry, before he brushed it down the other side of her neck, creating a deliciously sticky mess of chocolate and strawberry juice. His lips finally made contact with her flushed skin and he gently twirled his tongue around in the sweet concoction until Harper felt as if she were going to explode with desire._

_She dragged Steve's head up until her lips collided with his chocolate covered ones...lapping, licking, and sucking up the essence of chocolate and strawberry. He plunged his tongue through her sweet and eager lips as he lavished powerful, seductive kisses upon them._

"_My turn," Harper whispered, dragging her mouth away from his and reaching for a strawberry of her own. She repeated Steve's actions from only a moment ago, but instead of running the strawberry along his neck she chose to run it over the taut muscles of his chest. She leaned toward him again, watching very carefully for signs of dissuasion, and found none. Her tongue darted out playfully, cleaning the sticky, red juice away from his warm and spicy skin._

"_Jimmy," he breathed before taking what was left of the strawberry from her fingers and attaching his mouth to hers. Steve licked the juice off of his wife's lips, as if asking for entry, and she eagerly opened her mouth and felt a jolt of pleasure run through her body when his tongue lightly caressed her own. He traced over every inch of her mouth, drawing her into a fiery and hungry kiss, tasting the sweetness of strawberries and his Jimmy-girl. She circled her arms around his neck, wanting him as near as possible. Close just didn't seem to be enough. Ever so slowly, Steve moved away from her lips and went up to her ear, nibbled it a bit, and traced his fingers down her neckline, making her shiver. Her own hands stroked his angular face and she could still sense the smell of his aftershave. By the time oxygen had become a problem, he pulled back, pressing his forehead against hers and giving her a simple smirk, his eyes twinkling._

_"Tease," Steve whispered, his chest heaving up and down as he tried to regain control of his breathing._

_Harper smiled and whispered seductively, "There's no teasing going on here, Lieutenant McGarrett. It's only teasing if you don't follow through." She dropped a slow but sexy kiss on his swollen lips before she finished, "And I intend to follow through..."_

Steve's head dropped off to the left side, causing him to awaken with a start. Shaking the sleepiness out of his head, the S.E.A.L. looked around and tried to get a firm hold on his surroundings and all of his senses. They weren't in a resort on the Mexican Riviera…they were in a hospital room in Hawaii.

He looked down at Harper and took a few moments to gaze at her lovely face. Even though her skin was pale and drawn from the coma and her features were badly bruised from Wo Fat's beatings, she was still so beautiful. He lifted her hand up to his lips and kissed the back of it, letting his lips linger on the warmth of her skin. At least she wasn't cold and lifeless anymore, so there was still hope.

As she had done so many times before when anyone had touched her, Harper suddenly thrashed her head about and moaned. Realizing that she was responding to his touch, Steve carefully squeezed her hand and tried to control her tremors as he began to whisper soothingly, "It's all right, Jimmy-girl. It's all right. You're safe now. We've got you. You're safe."

But this time when Harper spoke, it wasn't in terror. And she wasn't speaking to Wo Fat.

"Steve?"

The Commander blinked a few times in disbelief, not sure he had actually just heard her murmur his name.

"Jimmy?" he asked cautiously, reaching up to stroke her hair. "Jimmy, can you hear me?"

Her head fell to the side and she gradually opened her eyes. As her vibrant green eyes adjusted to the harsh light of the hospital room, she slowly began to focus on his familiar face.

"I…know…you." she whispered, looking at him carefully.

"My name is Commander Steven McGarrett of the Hawaii Five-0 Task Force…"

"Steve?" she repeated, gaining her focus as she looked at him. "Is that really you?"

"It's really me," he replied in great relief. It was as if the world had been lifted from his shoulders. Leaning closer and clutching her hand once again, he explained quickly, "You are at the Honolulu Medical Center. You escaped from Wo Fat and have been in a state of unconsciousness for the past few days."

"Honolulu?" she repeated, looking around in confusion.

"You're safe now," he told her, finally letting go of her hand. Standing up, he said, "Your dad just went to get himself some coffee, but he has been here the entire time. And your brothers, too. I'll go get them. And your doctor…"

"No," she protested weakly, reaching out and grabbing his arm as he turned to go, "Wait. I was given a drug. I think it was a nervous system…"

_Always the cop_, Steve thought with a smirk. Catching her small hand between his two larger ones, he reassured her, "It was something called Bromazepam...but the doctors flushed it out of you. Let me go get you some help. I'll be right back…I promise."

"No," she told him again, strengthening her hold on his hand and weakly pulling him back towards her, "I have to tell you…"

"Just let me get your dad…"

"Jack…" she murmured, licking her lips as she realized how dry her mouth was, "I talked to Jack."

"Jack who?" Steve asked gently, returning to her bedside as he lifted her head gently with one strong arm and brought a cup of water to her lips with the other.

After swallowing her first sip of water, Harper shook her head and refused the second sip he was offering before telling him, "Jack McGarrett…"

Her words stung and he had to push down the emotions that were welling up as he soothed her, "You were very close to death, Jimmy. Sometimes we see those who have gone before us…"

But she was shaking her head again and pushing the cup away. Grabbing his wrist with all of the strength she had in her, she said in a stronger voice, "He's not dead, Steve. I…"

"Jimmy, you were given a powerful drug that causes hallucinations," Steve told her gently, lowering her back onto the bed, "Let me get your doctor and she'll explain it to you. We've been so worried about you…"

"Steven," Harper whispered fiercely, meeting his gaze with a clear, powerful stare, "it wasn't a hallucination. Your father is alive."


	27. Author's Note

_**Hello dear readers! I just wanted to check in and let you know that I have not given up on this story! Life is crazy right now with the ending of school and other stuff going on in real life! But, I still have the rest of this story all outlined and more will come soon! Thanks so much for reading and reviewing and keeping on top of me! I hope that maybe I can work on a little bit of the next chapter this week and have it ready by the weekend. But I promise that things will calm down in a couple of weeks and I will have more time to write! Thanks again!**_


	28. In the Arms of an Angel

_**I'm back! Sorry for the delay...life was crazier than expected. Thanks so much for your patience and words of encouragement. **_

_**I had originally planned to have this chapter be an interrogation chapter as Harper briefed the 5-0 team on what had happened to her. But since I didn't post for so long, I thought that an emotional chapter should mark my triumphant return instead. So the chapter that I cut out has Harper telling the gang and her family about Jack (and most of them not believing her) and how she escaped, etc. That's all you missed, but you know it all anyway. It's one of those times it pays to have the readers know more than the characters!**_

_**So, I hope this chapter is worth the wait...**_

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><p><strong>Chapter Twenty Seven<strong>

"_Spend all your time waiting for that second chance, for the break that will make it ok. There's always some reason to feel "not good enough" and it's hard at the end of the day. I need some distraction, oh beautiful release as memories seep from my veins. They may be empty and weightless, and maybe I'll find some peace tonight…_

_In the arms of the Angels, fly away from here. From this dark, cold hotel room, and the endlessness that you fear. You are pulled from the wreckage of your silent reverie You're in the arms of an Angel; may you find some comfort here."_

~Sarah McLachlan

_Honolulu Medical Center, a few hours later…_

Harper struggled to pull the sticky-with-sweat hospital gown over her head, but the sodden cotton clung to her skin, its reluctance to leave her person lasting until the last fiber was torn from her body. She dropped the wadded fabric to the tiled floor where it landed with a soggy 'plop'. Leaving the gown where it had fallen, she pulled back the curtain of the hospital bathroom shower where she intended to stand under the spray until her skin fell off. Stepping gingerly on her not-yet-fully-healed ankle, the detective all but collapsed into the huge shower, turning the water on as hot as her bruised skin could stand it.

The scorching water hit her body mercilessly and she was thankful for it. It was damn near scalding, but she was past caring. She wanted it to burn. She wanted it to hurt.

Bracing her arms against the shower walls and locking her elbows, the detective allowed her head to drop forward on her neck and the steaming water seared down her naked back. Hissing through her teeth as various cuts and tender flesh were aggravated by the heat, she reached for the shower gel and lathered a week's worth of sweat and grime from her body.

If only washing Wo Fat away were going to be so easy…

Or Jack.

_"Be quiet. Be quiet, or he'll kill you!"_

"_I'm John McGarrett, Vietnam War vet and detective with the Honolulu PD. Husband of Anna, father of Steven and Mary Ann…"_

_"I remember your wedding day. I was there. It was on the beach in Mexico. Just you and Steve, the priest, a handful of friends, Mary and me. You wore a simple white dress, no shoes, and had an orchid in your hair. It was the reddest hair I had ever seen…"_

_"He hides behind the walls. He watches all the time. I don't think he ever sleeps." _

_"I would only be a burden to you. Go without me!"_

_"You can do it, Harper! I know you can do it! Now, run! Go!"_

The first of her sobs felt like a release. All the ones after that felt like guilt and failure. But Harper couldn't seem to stop. At first she made no sound, but soon her weeping grew in intensity, until she started to shake, taking in great gasps of air.

She had left Jack behind.

With a killer.

A killer that she had angered by escaping.

Sobs wracked her bruised and beaten body as she felt her former father-in-law's sorrow, his grief. She experienced his pain as if a knife had been plunged into her back. Her breath came in ragged gasps. Her heart felt like it was going to rip out of her chest. Her world disappeared into a shroud of blackness as Harper helplessly slid down the tiled wall and settled on the shower floor. She wept with her knees drawn up and her arms wrapped around them.

She sat curled up under the stream of water for what seemed like hours, her bare back against the cold tile wall. She didn't care. She lay her head on her knees and shook slightly as she continued to cry. For the loss of innocence and the breaking of her own heart.

"Harper, Danny wants to ask you some questions when you're-…"

She didn't hear Steve enter her hospital room and she certainly didn't hear the panic in his voice when he realized she wasn't there and called out for her again.

"Jimmy?"

Within seconds, he was in the small adjoining bathroom pulling back the shower curtain. And there he found her…pitifully curled in a sobbing ball on the floor of the shower. But she didn't care. It was her lowest moment and even her tall, handsome ex-husband couldn't take it from her.

And he didn't even try.

Not bothering to look up at him, she tried to explain quietly, "I tried so hard not cry in that horrible place…"

"Cry now," he told her through the emotional lump lodge in his throat and then whispered, "I promise not to tell."

Without saying another word, Steve turned off the spray of water and stepped into the shower, fully clothed, as he settled himself down next to her…easing himself beside her to murmur quiet nothings of comfort into her ear. The Commander pulled her closer to his strong body and wrapped her in his embrace. She laid her head on his chest and tried to calm her sobs. But it was no use. They were sobs of pure grief and would not be calmed by his intimate embrace or the force of her strong will.

He held her for a few more moments and then she felt his hand on her chin, forcing her head up. Steve McGarrett's handsome face was so close to hers and his hand remained under her chin, warming her skin.

"Jimmy, it's okay," he said softly. She did not respond immediately and so he repeated. "It's okay. You're safe now. It's all over..."

Slowly, Harper grew calmer as she looked into his bright blue eyes. She had a focus; something to distract her from the grief that seemed to be overwhelming her. Her sobs ceased, and her breathing returned to normal.

At that point, Steve stood up and in one fluid motion picked up the wet and disheveled woman in his strong and capable arms. He had done it so many times before…gallantly carrying her over the threshold on their wedding night and on so many nights afterward, teasingly swooping her up while playing on the beach in San Diego, and even angrily lifting her off her feet once in the middle of an argument.

But this time was different. This time she was vulnerable and he had to exercise extreme caution.

Steve was as soaked as she was, but he didn't care. Carrying her out to the hospital bed, he laid her gently on the clean, white sheets and then returned to the bathroom to get some towels and a clean gown. Harper sat up, never saying a word, and allowed him to tenderly dress her as he pretended not to notice the angry bruises that covered her soft and supple skin. Once she was dressed, he carefully towel dried her hair and she didn't protest.

But she watched him the entire time. She never took her green eyes off of him.

Finally, she whispered quietly, "I'm sorry, Steve."

"For what?"

"I left him behind," Harper answered softly, "I left your dad behind…"

"Jimmy…" he whispered, his voice trailing when he realized she wasn't even listening to him.

"I tried to find him," she continued, staring up at him with those eyes. But they weren't flashing fire at him anymore…they were blank, void of any emotion at all. "But it was dark and I couldn't see. I called out for him, but Wo Fat broke his legs. He told me to go on without him and to bring back help. But I didn't know where I was. I can't tell you where to find him because I don't know where I was…"

She paused to let out a sob, deep and overwhelming and completely unexpected. He realized at that moment that she absolutely believed everything that she was saying. The emotion in her voice startled him…she was actually trying to get him to forgive her for not saving a man who had died over a year ago.

"I left him behind," Harper cried, allowing the tears to splash onto her newly dried cheeks, "I didn't think. He just told me to run, so I did. It was all so green and I didn't know where I was…the drugs. The drugs made me dizzy, so I ran and ran and I heard Wo Fat shouting behind me and…I left Jack behind!"

She had worked herself into another frenzy of emotions. But that wasn't what Steve was worried about. Because in the midst of her tirade, Steve had heard something else. Something far worse than the confused ramblings of a woman who had just traveled to the pits of Hell and back.

He heard defeat in her voice.

Wo Fat had beaten her.

And Steve wasn't about to let that happen.

If Steve McGarrett knew anything at all about his ex-wife, it was that she had always been unconscious of the feelings she inspired in those around her. One of the things he noticed right away was that he had never seen any one person inspire such loyalty in those that cared about her...from her family to her friends to her partner to her squad of detectives. Hell, even his team was treating her like one of the family from day one. But he also knew that Harper Elizabeth James had no desire to have windows made into her soul, and fled from those who would try. After the many battles of the heart she had fought over the years, she had learned to fear those who could see into the hearts of others. She feared their sight almost as much as she feared their protection.

But that wasn't going to stop him from offering her some comfort.

"Look at me, Jimmy."

His tone was like the one her father always used when he was about to teach her a lesson and the redheaded detective instinctively knew to obey that voice.

"You're the best damn cop I've ever met…"

"Don't patronize me," she interrupted, stubbornly. "Your father is alive and I left him behind. Why are you so calm about this?"

"Jimmy, I…"

"You don't believe me," Harper whispered suddenly, her eyes widening in horror. "The team is not out there looking for him…"

She was on the verge of getting hysterical again and Steve knew this was not the time to argue with her. So he took both of her cold, shaking hands in his and told her, "We're canvassing the area. Danny, Chin, and Kono are going to find him."

"But I…"

He suddenly had enough. She was so damn hard headed…which was exactly what made her such a good cop. But she was going to obsess about this hallucination of his father until it drove them both insane. So Steve changed the conversation…

"You won, Jimmy! You won!" He told her forcefully, looking her straight in the eye and daring her to look away from him, "Don't you see that? Wo Fat sent his goons into your room and took you when you were at your most vulnerable. He locked you in a cage! But you won! You called out even though he warned you not to. You escaped even though he tried to chase you. You survived even though he tried to kill you. You remembered…everything…even though your pysche tried to block it all out. You won, Jimmy! You won! Don't let him take that away from you. Ever."

"But your dad…"

_She was holding onto that story so tightly…like a lifeline. Why wouldn't she let it go?_

"We will find him," he repeated urgently, playing along for both of their sakes, "I promise."

Harper nodded slowly and he watched the truth of his words begin to seep in. Without thinking twice, Steve climbed onto the hospital bed with her and pulled her close again. The detective surprised herself by sliding into the warmth of her ex-husband's embrace. They lay there in each other's arms for a few moments in the dark and Harper began to replay the horrifying events in her mind again. Her feelings overwhelmed her and she found her voice suddenly betray her heart, as she whispered into the darkness, "He locked me in a cage."

Steve's arms involuntarily tightened his embrace around her as she continued softly, "He was using me to get to you. And then he was going to kill me."

"I know."

"He took me from my room and locked me in a cage," she whispered, unknowingly breaking his already frazzled heart into a million more pieces. Steve waited patiently for her to continue, knowing that there were still words left unspoken.

And soon he was rewarded.

"He came into my hotel room and there wasn't a thing I could do about it. For my entire career, I have been able to outrun, outshoot, outwit and outmaneuver everyone who stood in my way. But this time…when it really mattered…I couldn't even protect myself." Looking up at him she asked, "Would you still trust me to have your back out in the field?"

"Yes."

His sudden and simple answer unnerved her. He didn't even have to think about it.

The room lapsed into silence again before Steve told her quietly, "Deep down, everyone wants to believe they can be hardcore. But being hardcore isn't just about being tough - it's about acceptance. Sometimes you have to give yourself permission to not be hardcore for once. You don't have to be tough every minute of every day. It's okay to let down your guard. In fact, there are moments when it's the best thing you can possibly do - as long as you choose your moments wisely."

"Is this one of those moments?"

She sounded like a little girl, so unsure of herself. This was a side that not many people got to see of Harper James. A side of her that she had kept hidden from him for so long, to the point that it contributed to the breakup of their marriage. But now she was giving him complete access. To her weakest moment. She trusted him with it. She trusted him not to take advantage of it or exploit it. She simply trusted him…period.

And Steve was unable to resist.

His face came ever closer and soon the warmth of his lips met the cold, wetness of her own. The heat generated from his kiss consumed her and was hotter than any fire she had ever been near. She melted deeper into him, his arms wrapping around her slight frame and pulling her closer. Her arms found their way around his neck and her fingers were lost in the darkness of his hair. A low moan escaped his lips as they ravaged hers.

Harper could feel herself slipping, into what she did not know. She knew all too well that Commander Steven John McGarrett was a man who would end up breaking her heart, and her heart could not contain another wound. But he had been binding her to him since they had reunited…with every kind word, every piercing glance…and she felt herself sinking. She did not know how much further she could sink without harm. But still, she could not pull away from his embrace and the warmth it brought to her frozen body and spirit.

Harper didn't know what might have happened next, for it was Steve who pulled away from their embrace. It was a move that surprised them both. She looked up into his eyes, which were dark with desire as he said, "Not here. Not like this. You've been through too much…"

The beautiful redhead regarded him with tired eyes and a newfound respect. She knew how much resolve it must have taken for him to pull away from her kiss, yet allow her to remain in his arms.

"Thank you, Steven." she whispered.

It was the first time in a long time when she hadn't used his first name sarcastically or out of anger.

"For what?" he asked, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her more firmly into his embrace. He gently kissed her temple as she answered quietly.

"For being here." Harper whispered, her eyelids fluttering closed as she began to drift off to sleep.

It didn't take long for his Jimmy-girl to drift off to sleep, but now it was Steve who was wide awake. The intimate embrace they shared that night was going to lead them back to a dangerous place. A place ruled by emotions...a place they had basically destroyed all those years ago.

_"I should have let her grieve in peace. Alone in silence, as she wished. But to have left her on that shower floor, heartbroken and vulnerable, was impossible."_

The Commander tried to shake that nagging thought out of his head, concentrating only on trying not to enjoy the feeling of his ex-wife sleeping in his arms. It transported him back to another time…an easier, happier time.

He hadn't had any words to comfort her, just reminders of the harsh truth of their profession. But she hadn't needed words, just him, and what he could provide. He had wanted to be strong for her. But the truth was that her tears had broken his heart and he had only held himself together because he knew she needed him to.

Harper Elizabeth James was a woman who made it clear that she didn't need anyone. But that night, she needed him. And nothing in either of their lives was ever going to be the same again.


	29. Returning to Normal

_**Don't be shocked...I'm back! I know it took A LONG time, but it was a crazy summer for us! But I am back in the swing of things now, so here we go...**_

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><p><strong>Chapter Twenty Eight – Return to Normal<strong>

_"The night is always darkest just before the dawn. I promise you, the dawn is coming,"_

~The Dark Knight

_Harper James' hospital room at Honolulu Medical Center, the next morning…_

Sunlight streamed cheerfully though the window of Harper's hospital room, gliding silently across the tile floor and alighting on the faces of the occupants of the bed, currently resting in peaceful slumber. The red head shifted at the bright glare beyond her eyelids and the strong arms encircling her waist tightened in response as he pulled her closer to his chest. A slow smile formed on her lips as she finally gave in and opened her eyes to the new day. The sigh that escaped her lips was not one of frustration, but contentment. The quiet sound caused Commander Steve McGarrett to automatically wrapped his arms around his ex-wife and pull her even closer, smiling softly in his sleep. She gazed up into his face, features softened in sleep. She lightly traced his features, marveling that this man could make her feel so secure. He began to stir and his warm eyes met hers. He leaned in and captured her lips in a sensuous kiss…

"Ahem."

Harper reluctantly pulled away from Steve's embrace to see that they were no longer alone in the hospital room. Detective Danny Williams was standing awkwardly in the doorway, looking as though he wished he were anywhere else in the universe at that moment.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but…"

Steve was up and out of the bed like a flash. Not out of embarrassment, but because he knew that if Danny hadn't high-tailed it out of the room the moment he saw what was going on then it must mean he had something important to say.

"What've you got?"

"A surprising new development," the New Jersey detective informed his partner, speaking in a hushed tone, "Do you remember Louis Kealoha?"

"Honolulu PD Police Captain," Steve replied quickly, recalling the name from somewhere in his sleep addled brain, "What about him?"

"You're never going to guess who his wife's kid brother is," Danny replied, holding up a file that the team had dug up during the night and opening it to reveal a familiar face.

"Michael Sugimoto," Steve breathed, clenching his fists.

"Kai Akino's second in command," his partner agreed and then continued, "He was with Akino in Chicago on the night Samuel Norval was killed and his prints were found in Harper's hotel room. When confronted with that evidence, Uncle Lou had no choice but to admit that he has been Wo Fat's man in the HPD all along."

"He confessed to killing Akino?" Steve asked, shaking his head, "How did that happen?"

"He says that he thought he was killing a cop killer…"

"Well, he was," the Commander reminded his partner, "On the orders of the man who had ordered Norval's murder in the first place."

"Well, he had a few things to confess about Sam Norval's murder too," Danny Williams' hushed words were uttered in urgency, and the moment they left his lips he glanced over toward the redhead in the hospital bed.

"Such as?" Steve asked, crossing his arms over his chest and narrowing his eyes.

"Captain Kealoha says that Detective Samuel Norval was the Chicago based snitch for the Yakuza…"

"No way…"

Both Steve and Danny quickly turned their heads toward the hospital bed and the feminine voice that interrupted their conversation. Sitting up against her pillows and eyes blazing at them in anger, Harper told them, "Sammy was not working for Wo Fat."

"Jimmy,…" Steve began as both men approached the bed, "Calm down."

"I will not calm down," Harper bit out, swinging her legs over the side of the bed and preparing to stand up.

"Don't you dare," her ex-husband warned, reaching her side and lifting her legs back into the bed, "You aren't going anywhere. Let us handle this."

"There is nothing to handle!" Harper hissed, focusing her anger on Danny, "This information came from a murderous cop who confessed to killing a man in his own interrogation room and taking orders from a notorious crime lord." Swinging her eyes over to Steve, she asked, "Do you believe this?"

"No," he answered quickly, causing his partner to raise his eyebrow. "If you trusted Sammy, then so do we."

"We do?" Danny asked before receiving an elbow in the gut. Undeterred, the detective continued, "Look, I know he was your partner Harper…but haven't you asked yourself why he was targeted? I mean, he wasn't a random victim. Wo Fat sent two of his top henchmen all the way to Chicago to dispose of him. Why would he do that if…"

"It wasn't because Sammy was in bed with the Yakuza." Harper insisted, pulling back the covers and trying to get out of bed again, "And if you're not going to figure out what the REAL connection was, then I will."

"You most certainly will not."

Chicago Police Superintendent Michelangelo Vincent James managed to fill the entire doorway of the small hospital room, so even if his daughter had managed to get out of the bed and past her ex-husband she wasn't going to get very far.

"They are accusing Sammy of…"

"I did not accuse him of anything," Danny defended himself, "Captain Kealoha accused him of being a Yakuza and I was just relaying the message."

Ignoring the New Jersey detective, Mickey James never took his eyes off his daughter as he commanded quietly, "Get back in that bed."

Looking from her father to her ex-husband, Harper knew that she was outnumbered by overprotective men and did as her father told her. Leaning back against the pillows, she huffed, "This is so unfair."

"Deal with it," both Steve and Mickey said at the same time.

Raising his eyebrows yet again, Danny looked at both men and tried very hard not to laugh. Instead he turned to Harper and said in his most professional voice, "Kono has put all of the information you gave us yesterday into the computer and is busy narrowing down the spot where you could have been held. As soon as she gets some photos of viable locations, we're going to need you take a look at them. Do you think you're up to that?"

"Yes," Harper answered, her anger at him subsiding quickly, "But wouldn't it be faster if I just went down to Five-0 Headquarters so that…"

"No," All three men answered at once.

But Harper was not deterred. Barely stopping to catch her breath, she continued fiercely, "We can't waste any time. God only knows what Wo Fat is doing to Jack now that I've escaped."

As the three cops exchanged worried glances, Harper rolled her eyes and muttered, "I'm not losing my mind. Jack McGarrett is alive. I saw him. I talked to him. It was not a drug induced hallucination or some kind of mental protection from trauma thing…I SAW him! And…"

"Jimmy…"

"Stop 'Jimmy'-ing me!" she interrupted, "I am not crazy! Your father is alive! You didn't see him get shot, you only heard it…over a telephone! But for some reason you are choosing to believe that instead of me. He's out there and no one is looking for him…"

"That's not true," It was Steve's turn to interrupt as he tucked the blankets around her like she was five years old, "Danny just said that Kono is working round the clock to find out where Wo Fat held you."

"Because you want to find Wo Fat, not because you believe me about your dad," Harper shot back. Slapping his hands away, she hissed, "Stop treating me like a child!"

Ignoring her last comment, Steve informed her, "When we find Wo Fat, we find my dad." And after dropping a quick kiss on her lips, he and Danny high tailed it out of the room.

Blowing out an angry breath, Harper turned to find her father smirking at her.

"What?"

"No one can get under your skin the way that man can," Mickey reminded her with a chuckle, "And that is saying something."

"I can't believe he doesn't believe me about something so important…"

"Sweetheart, when you woke up you were rambling on about a hidden dungeon under the earth and secret tunnels," the Superintendent told her seriously, settling his large frame in a chair near her bed, "It was pretty hard to decipher what was real and what was the drugs talking."

"Do you believe me?"

Harper couldn't believe how much she sounded like a 4 year old child as she asked that question. But without flinching, her father nodded and simply said, "Yes." He paused for a few minutes and then said, "But Steve has spent the last year mourning his father…a father who he had a very complicated relationship with and who died while the two of them were not on the best terms. He's had to accept that there was nothing he could do to stop it from happening and go on with his life. What if someone came in here and told you that Vinnie was really alive and…?"

"I'd do anything I could to find out if it was true," Harper interrupted, shaking her head stubbornly, "Because I would give anything to have him back."

"Cut him some slack, baby girl," Mickey admonished, "He's had a rough week."

"Wait a minute, are you sticking up for him?"

"I guess I am," her father admitted with a smirk.

"Now I really do think I'm hallucinating," she admitted, laying back against the pillows.

Taking a deep breath, Mickey James told his daughter slowly, "He loves you, baby girl. And he almost lost you…again. There's only so much a man's heart can take and it might just be easier for him to ignore this whole _'father back from the dead'_ thing until he settles everything else going on."

As he was speaking, the elder James had reached out and taken his daughter's hand. Playing with the wedding ring he still wore on his left ring finger, Harper whispered, "I'm still mad at you."

"I know," he whispered back, eyes filling with tears, "and I can deal with that. As long as you are safe." Watching her eyes fill up with tears also, he murmured quietly, "I know I've hurt you, but I was just trying to keep you safe."

The regrets she'd felt when she thought she was going to die without ever having the chance to forgive her father came flooding back over her. Her eyes softened as she squeezed his hand and simply replied, "I know."

"You do?" Mickey asked, his tired eyes registering his surprise.

"I love you, daddy," A tear made its way down Harper's cheek as she smiled a soft smile at her father, a look of forgiveness lightening her eyes, "And I know you were just doing what you thought was best. It was underhanded and kind of sneaky…but it's in the past. Let's leave it there, okay?"

"Okay."

"And when all is said and done, you have always been my safe place to fall." she whispered lovingly, a tear sliding down her cheek, as she gave the man who had given her so much a tender smile. "And you always will be."

"I promise you, baby girl," Mickey swore emotionally. "I'll always come for you when you need me."

"No, don't promise me that," Harper said with a shake of her head, "Promise me that if Steve and I manage to work things out between us that you will stay out of it this time?"

"If he hurts you again…"

"Promise?"

Their eyes held for a long moment, the love and bond shared between them palpable, before Mickey finally agreed, "Promise." Brushing a stray hair out of his only daughter's face, he whispered, "I don't know what I would have done if I lost you.

"I'm not that easy to lose," the child told the parent in a soothing tone, lifting their entwined fingers so that she could kiss the back of his hand.

Smiling down at her, Mickey told her honestly, "Good to know."


	30. The Men Who Love Her Pt IV

_**Not only am I back, but our feisty red headed Detective is back as well...**_

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><p><strong>Chapter Twenty Nine – The Men Who Love Her, Part IV<strong>

"_Never allow a person to tell you __**No**__ who doesn't have the power to say __**Yes**__."_

~Eleanor Roosevelt

_Five-0 Headquarters, a few hours later…_

"I've got something!"

The unmistakably feminine voice of Officer Kono Kalakaua rang out loud and true through the bullpen of the Hawaii Five-0 Headquarters as her fingers ran expertly and efficiently over the computer screen in the middle of it all. Without fail, doors started opening up all around the offices as the men from both Hawaii and Chicago began to gather around her.

"Hit us with it, cuz." Chin Ho Kelly prompted, but his usually charismatic grin was replaced by a look of stone cold seriousness…matching it to every face in the room.

"Well after Superintendent James had me look up blueprints and old maps from Akaka Falls State Park, I also did a little digging on my own." Hitting a few keystrokes on the tabletop screen, she brought her findings up on the big screen in the middle of the room so that everyone could all see what she had seen, "And I found some newspaper articles from about twenty years ago detailing a murder investigation that involved a 'disappearing house'. A body was found in the thickness of the park near an abandoned estate where native Polynesians had once settled and the main house was unusual because it contained large underground cellars…"

"I remember that case," Chin interrupted, squinting his tired eyes to look at the newspaper articles that flashed on the screen before him, "It was the Tierney murders…a couple from rural Virginia who went missing during their vacation here in Hawaii. The HPD originally thought that they had wandered off the trails and fallen from one of the steep cliffs until some hikers found a bodies. The wife was found out in the middle of the woods, but the husband was trapped in this cellar-like dwelling. The cops only found it by accident…there was some sort of secret entrance and the cellar was like a bunch of small houses hidden under the earth, with dozens of floors and rooms and secret compartments."

"_A house hidden in the trees...j_ust like Harper said." Chicago Police Detective Tommy James breathed, scanning the articles on the screen and repeating his sister's words from the previous morning. Glancing over at Steve, he mused, "Maybe she's not talking nonsense after all."

As Steve tried to ignore his former brother-in-law's unsettling and pointed comments, Kono changed the screen again as she continued, "And here we have a map of Akaka Falls State Park from 1605...before it was ever Akaka Falls State Park, it was the home of the 17th Alii Aimoku of Hawaiʻi Island named Kaikilani. She ruled as the sovereign Queen or Chiefess of the island of Hawaii and one of her historians was kind enough to draw us a map of the Royal property." Highlighting an area on the map, Kono finished, "And now if we look right here, you can clearly see where the property had an expanded cellar and underground living quarters that were built for Kaikilani's family to hide in case of a revolt. The rest of the estate is gone now and there is nothing to see from aerial surveillance photos, but I'd bet you anything that the cellars are still there..."

"And that is where Wo Fat was holding Harper," Danny surmised, "Brilliant. It's smack dab in the middle of hiking trails in one of the busiest state parks on the islands and he could hide her there without anyone suspecting."

"And how far is it from where the tourists pulled Harper out of the river?" Steve asked, his eyes scanning the new information with dark eyes.

"I knew you were going to ask that, boss," Kono responded quickly, her fingers flying over the keyboard, "and so in anticipation of your query, I made a few calculations." The map moved south on the screen momentarily as the young police officer explained, "This is the point where the young knights in shining armor pulled our fair red headed maiden out of the river. But after checking into the Park Service records, we find that the tidal current was running especially high that day. The paramedics at the scene estimated that she was in the water for approximately two hours, so we do a little calculating and a little backtracking and…voila!"

The bright pink highlighting line that Kono was using to backtrack Harper's trip down the river suddenly stopped on the screen. And two miles to the west of that hideous, pink line was the marker for the Kaikilani Estate.

"Even in her drug induced condition, Harper could have easily made it from the underground cellar to the cliffs just above this point in the river," Harper's brother, Detective Bobby James, pointed out as he touched the screen to make his point. "And since the next closest structure of any kind is about ten miles west of there, this has to be where she was held."

"And where we are going to find Wo Fat." McGarrett agreed, already pulling on his vest and checking his gun.

"And your father."

Everyone had been so engrossed in Kono's demonstration on the screen that no one had seen Detective Harper James herself standing in the doorway of the Five-0 bullpen.

"What are you doing here?" Mickey James, his three sons, and Steve all asked at the same time.

"Well it's nice to see all of you again, too." Harper quipped, but then in all seriousness she added, "I'm going with you."

"The Hell you are," her father roared. He was the first to respond, but his sentiments were echoed by most of the people in the room, "Why aren't you at the hospital?"

"Because I was released."

"By who?"

"By Dr. D'Angelo, daddy," the red headed detective informed him coolly as she strolled into the middle of the room, "You know, the woman who saved my life? She even gave me a note for my teacher and a lollipop for being such a good patien-…"

"This is not a joke, Harper Elizabeth," Mickey interrupted in a stern voice, "You were in a drug induced coma not even 24 hours ago…"

"Well, I'm out now. And feeling fine. It's amazing what a hot shower, a clean gown, a few painkillers, and a good night's sleep will do for an aching body." And as she said the words, Harper tried her hardest not to grin in her ex-husband's direction, but her gaze found his in spite of her best efforts. Tearing her eyes away from the handsome face she had woken up next to, she added, "Dr. D'Angelo sutured up my ankle and gave me a cortisone shot for the pain, so I'm good to go. But the pain killer may wear off soon, so we'd better get going…"

"You're not going anywhere," Detective Frankie James interrupted, glaring at his kid sister, "but back to your hotel room to rest."

"Frankie, my hotel room is a crime scene and the last time I was there…things didn't work out so well for me," Harper shot back with a teasing grin before saying, "So if it's all the same to you, I'm sticking around this time. And since Kono has done an excellent job of finding the cellars where I was held, we'd better get…"

"We?" Tommy repeated, raising his eyebrow at her and echoing the sentiments of every male with the last name of James in the room, "**You** aren't going anywhere. Tell her, dad…"

"There is no way that you are…"

"Look, as much as I'd like to stand around here and argue with all of you…we've got to get out to Wo Fat's hideout and find Jack," Harper hissed, gearing up for a fight with anyone who dared stand in her way, "The longer we stand here, the more time he is spending with that monster who has hatched some sort of evil plan for every living McGarrett male still in Hawaii…"

"Harper…" all three James brothers warned at the same time, but they didn't get to say much more because their kid sister turned on them with her eyes suddenly flashing fire.

"Don't you dare _'Harper'_ me!" she hollered at them, showing more signs of life than she had in the last week, "I am so damn sick and tired of everyone trying to protect me. Wo Fat killed Sammy! Have you forgotten that?" Harper demanded, and to the Five-0 team's amazement each of her brothers glanced away from her uneasily. "Well, I haven't forgotten. And his wife and son haven't forgotten. I came here to get justice for them and I am not going to sit on the sidelines when we are this close." Turning to her father, she marched up to him and reminded everyone, "I am the only person in the room who has been to that part of the park and knows how to find the entrance to that cellar. Not to mention the fact that I am also the only one to have had the most recent interactions with Wo Fat and lived to tell about it. I may not have seen much of his face, but I know his size, his voice, and I know the way he moves…"

"But the Bromazepam in your system has played games with your memory and…"

Danny had barely gotten the words out of his mouth before she turned on the New Jersey detective and told him hotly, "I remember the exact moment when my father's partner showed up on our doorstep and told my family that my mother was dead. I remember every little detail from the day when some Navy lawyer served me with divorce papers and told me that my marriage was over. And I damn well remember the place where I was taken the night two thugs dragged me from my hotel room and locked me in a cage!"

Her emotional outburst stunned the room into silence for a moment and no one was sure how to respond. It was the Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department who recovered his voice first.

"Harper, I know how you feel. Honestly…"

"Daddy, would you please stop treating me like I'm a victim?" Realizing that she was yelling, Harper lowered her voice as she explained, "Every time I try to rest...I hear Jack's voice. And I wonder what's being done to him…because of me. Because I left him there." The detective then drove her point home by saying, "I was in those woods. If you get me to the right area, I can help you find that cellar. I have to do this."

"Harper, it's not that we don't understand what you've been through," Tommy James reasoned quietly, "It's because of that trauma that I don't think you should…"

"Trauma?"

And finally it was her brother Frankie who gave words to the thoughts going on in everyone's minds by saying, "You are planning a rescue mission to save a man who has been dead for over a year."

If Bobby James, who happened to be standing closest to Harper at that moment, hadn't immediately snaked his arm around his sister's waist, she would have charged Frankie and caused him some immense pain. Fighting against the strength of her brother's grip, the redhead flashed a look of pure anger at Frankie James and shouted stubbornly, "Jack McGarrett is alive!"

"His own son doesn't even believe that!" Frankie shouted back as he gestured toward Steve, who was staying uncharacteristically silent throughout this family drama unfolding in his bullpen. But Frankie's obvious fear for his sister's mental stability would not be pushed to the back burner as he continued angrily, "How the hell do you expect us to let you lead us to Wo Fat when you've been rambling on about talking to a dead man for that last 24 hours? Are we going to find Mom and Vinnie and Sammy in those cellars, too?"

"That's enough!" Mickey suddenly roared, glaring at his son with a look that matched Harper's. Frankie finally had sense enough to shut his mouth as he crossed his arms over his chest and marched over to a corner of the room to calm down. Watching his sister fall apart was more than the intense detective could take and he couldn't face it for a minute longer.

"Fine," Harper said stubbornly, purposely avoiding any eye contact with Frankie, "Nobody believes me about Jack? Fine. Because this isn't about me. It never was. It's about Sammy and the son of bitch who ordered his murder. And no matter how nuts you think I am right now, I am still a good cop who just wants justice for my partner. I can take you to that cellar." Squaring her shoulders and casting a defiant look around the room, she added "This is my case. And I'm going to see it through to the end. With or without your help."

Steve watched silently as Mickey James and his sons exchanged knowing glances before turning to look at him. And in that instant the Commander knew what he had to do.

"We're wasting time," McGarrett said suddenly into the quiet room as he reached down to gather up the hand-drawn map that Kono had printed out for them. "Jimmy is a cop who has been cleared for duty. We need all the manpower we can get to find Wo Fat and his hidden torture chamber." Heading for his office, he called out over his shoulder, "Get her badge and gun and let's go find this son of a bitch."

Mickey James stared into his only daughter's eyes for what seemed like an eternity as the cop in him and the overprotective father in him wrestled for dominance. Finally, seeing the fire in her eyes, he conceded and nodded his head. But out loud he said, "I don't like this."

"I know," Harper quipped as relief and a slow grin spread across her face, "but when has that ever stopped me before?"


	31. A Family Affair

_**Thanks for reading and commenting everyone! It couldn't be a Five-0 fic without a little action...**_

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><p><strong>Chapter Thirty – A Family Affair<strong>

_"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."_

~ Edmund Burke

_Akaka Falls State Park, two hours later..._

"This place gives me the creeps," Jenna Kaye remarked as the team of Chicago police detectives and Hawaii Five-0 agents spread out and continued searching the area from Kono's map. "What are we doing here again?"

"This is where she jumped," Danny informed the ex-CIA agent as he passed by, barely acknowledging the woman's existence.

Looking down the steep embankment, Jenna stopped and asked in awe, "Into the river?"

"It was either that or go back," Tommy James added, following Danny along the property line of the Kaikilani Estate, "and my kid sister wasn't going back into Hell voluntarily."

The section of Akaka Falls State Park that was once the Kaikilani Estate was particularly eerie and otherworldly, creepy as hell. There was almost no visible evidence that anyone human had ever lived there. The team could feel the blood and bones of the Polynesian natives as they stood before the disturbing ruins of the old farm. Sassafras trees, arrowwood shrubs, honeysuckle, and poison ivy has grown up to the level of an average man's chin. Red and white oaks, sycamores, and a few sweet gum trees stood tall and mature where a prosperous estate had once been. But the estate itself had disappeared.

They had worked their way north, and then east. They weren't too far from the state highway and, according to rough calculations, couldn't be more than two or three miles from the state road.

"Search parties for Wo Fat never came all the way back here," Kono informed them as she prowled around, "Undergrowth's real thick and nasty. Not trampled down anywhere I can see."

"We're probably looking for a very old trap door," Chin pronounced, "There isn't anything specific marked on Kaikilani map. The cellar is supposed to be forty to fifty feet west of those sycamores. I think those are the right trees, and we should be right over the cellar now."

"So where the hell is the door?" Mickey James grumped, never once taking his eyes off his daughter.

"Probably where nobody would walk on it by mistake," Harper figured, making a path into the thicker, wilder undergrowth. Beyond the tangle of vines there was an open field or meadow, where Hawaiian desert-thorn has once been planted and grown. Beyond that was more thick woods. The air was hot and still. Harper was getting impatient and she knocked down some honeysuckle with a vengeance. She was stamping her feet, trying to locate the hidden door as she listened for a hollow sound, some kind of wood or metal under the tall grass and thickly tangled weeds. But all the while, she was shaking her head in defiance as she said, "I remember this. The smell…it was sweet. Honeysuckle."

As he trudged through the foreboding woods close behind Harper, the towering oaks and pines began to shut out all the light and Steve could imagine her running through these same dark green woods only a week earlier. With a madman hot on her heels. Just the thought of it hurt his heart. He had no idea how she was able to stand it now.

"Harper!"

Harper's head swung around to face her brother just as the shot rang out into the darkness of the woods. She watched in horror as Frankie clutched his shoulder and fell to the ground. But out of the corner of her eye, she saw something else. Another man. Not a cop. Not Five-0.

Running away. Into the thick tangle of woods.

Wo Fat.

Without a moment's hesitation, the red headed detective grabbed her Glock out of her shoulder holster and started to run. Faster and faster as her legs began to work as they once did, as they remembered how to run fast.

Running through these woods. Once again. But this time, she was the cat chasing the mouse and not the other way around.

Harper heard the bullets whiz past her in Wo Fat's direction and knew that Steve, her father, and the rest were hot on her trail. There was no hesitation. Vines and thorny bushes tore at her arms and legs as she moved through the densely overgrown thicket. The leafy branches whipped across her face and the detective didn't even care.

They ran for what must have been a mile, or seemed like it anyway. Harper had lost sight of Wo Fat, but she ran on anyway. For all she knew, she was putting even more distance between them. Or maybe he was right behind her. Circled around? Following the team?

Harper looked for signs of blood or torn clothing, some sign that he had been through here. Her lungs were on fire now, and she was soaked with perspiration. Her legs ached, but on she ran. Steve had caught up to her and probably could have surpassed her, but instead he ran along by her side.

This was their case now.

Her partner. His parents.

Their scumbag.

"Up ahead," Steve breathed heavily, nodding to where they saw their target running and holding his shoulder. The wounded monster showed no signs of slowing down. But he knew that they were bearing down on him so he unleashed a bloodcurdling scream, reminding everyone that they were dealing with an unpredictable madman.

The sudden sound of gunfire caught Harper off guard. A chip flew off the bark of a nearby tree and whipped past her head. It came an inch or two away from cutting her down and killing her on the spot when suddenly someone tackled her to the ground. Steve's strong body was suddenly on top of hers and shielding her behind another nearby tree. The pair crouched behind the tree and peered through the leafy branches.

It was eerie and quiet again. No screams. No gunshots. No one seemed to be there. What the hell was he up to?

Harper looked around and saw the cops and agents taking cover behind surrounding trees. Everyone was ready for whatever was about to come.

The last thing they expected was to hear was his voice…

"Detective James! Commander McGarrett!" came the eerily familiar shout. Her ex-husband's hand tightened around her arm as Harper lurched forward in surprise. "I know you are there! I knew you would come back for me."

"She's not here for you!"

Mickey James' voice rang out in the silence. Harper recognized fear mixed with hatred in the voice of her greatest mentor as he continued, "She's here for Detective Samuel Norval. And Jack and Anna McGarrett. We're all here for them. You're outnumbered, you son of a bitch!"

The evil laugh that had haunted her dreams was heard once again before Wo Fat answered, "Daddy? Is that Daddy James come to protect his little girl from the big, bad Hawaiian? Who else is here, daddy? How many of Harper's men are here to protect her now? Brothers? Ex-husband? Show yourselves…all of you!"

He knew it was over. Wo Fat knew he was trapped and would not be getting out of this alive. But he wasn't going to go down without bringing a few more people down with him…

"Steven? I know you are here now, McGarrett! But where were you that night?" Wo Fat taunted, a tinge of pride in his voice. "Where were you that night when I stole your beautiful bride from her fancy hotel room? Where were you the night I put a bullet in your daddy's brain?"

In the eerie silence of the forest they heard the cock of a gun. Steve's gun. She could feel the anger radiating off of him as Wo Fat laughed again and mocked, "Go ahead, McGarrett. Reach for the Glock and take me down...but not before I tell you about the biggest secret of all. Your little Jimmy is not crazy…your father is nearby. And still drawing breath. Or at least he was an hour ago…"

A gun fired twice from Harper's left side and she felt her ex-husband emerge from his hiding place next to her, "Where is he?" Steve hollered into the darkness. "Where is my father?"

It was at that moment that Wo Fat stepped into view and the rest of the team surrounded him.

"Did you really think I was going to tell you that?" Wo Fat proclaimed spitefully, "I really expected more from Jack McGarrett's son. But then again, it never even crossed your mind that he was still alive. Not until your little red headed vixen fell into my trap. Everyone that you love, McGarrett…I've stolen them all. Mommy dearest, daddy, and the little woman…"

"Harper escaped," Steve reminded him, as Harper stood shoulder to shoulder with her ex-husband, "She beat you. You got beat by a woman, Wo Fat." Pointing his gun at Wo Fat's chest, he demanded, "Now tell me where he is!"

"It's over," Mickey added from somewhere behind Harper's left shoulder. "You know it and we know it. Tell us what happened to Anna and Jack McGarrett and Detective Norval..."

"Over?" Wo Fat remarked mockingly. "No, no, no, no…it's just begun."

With one swift motion, the evil man raised his own gun and pointed it toward Harper. But then suddenly, he shifted and fired a shot in Mickey James' direction.

Without hesitation, Steve and Harper fired simultaneously. Shots from all around followed theirs, but none of them mattered. The first bullet caught Wo Fat high in the chest, just below the throat. He dropped as if his legs had been pulled out from under him, sending the bullet meant for Mickey's heart into the trunk of a nearby tree.

Harper and Steve sprinted as fast as they could toward the last place she had seen Wo Fat standing. He lay spread eagle on the forest floor, a death mask now covering his face. Harper didn't see his gun anywhere around him. He wasn't moving, but she knew that he was badly hurt. Crouching on his knees over him, Steve grabbed the monster's face in his hands.

Harper didn't know what she was expecting to see, but she was surprised and relieved to see that he was simply…ordinary. Dark hair matted down with perspiration, blue-gray eyes that were glazing over. A sopping puddle of arterial blood had already collected under him.

"You're not a god," Harper whispered through clenched teeth. "You bleed like the rest of us, you son of a bitch."

Steve lifted his head as the men who loved Harper most gathered around, guns still at the ready. Wo Fat couldn't believe that someone had actually shot him, he couldn't accept it even as he lay dying. His darting, cold eyes told them that much.

"Where is he?" Steve demanded again, wanting to shake the truth out of him. "Tell me where my father is."

Wo Fat struggled to focus his eyes on his prized victim, to see the Navy S.E.A.L. clearly once more. Or maybe just to see the world one last time. A bloody bubble formed on his lips and then popped with a soft spray.

His words came slowly, but they penetrated the air like a knife.

"You'll never find him now."

A slow smile spread across his thin lips as a raspy howl rose from Wo Fat's throat. Harper recognized the death rattle as he whispered with his final breath, "I win."


	32. Into the Deep

_**Okay, so I know that TV's version of Wo Fat is cold and calculating and my version is meaner and scarier, but I took a little poetic license with the character. But let's forget about him because as one reviewer said, "Ding Dong, the dick is dead!" (Thanks When I Make it Shine!) So now, onto one of the moments you have all been waiting for...**_

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><p><strong>Chapter Thirty One – Into the Deep<strong>

_A man's worth is measured by how he parents his children. What he gives them, what he keeps away from them, the lessons he teaches and the lessons he allows them to learn on their own._

~Lisa Rogers

_Akaka Falls State Park_ …

"Do you think he was just messing with him…ow!"

All eyes…except for one pair…were on Frankie James as Kono leaned over him and tried to tend the gunshot wound that had torn through his right shoulder. But as in everything else, he was not being a very cooperative patient.

"What do you mean?" his father asked, trying to hide the concern in his dark eyes. Mickey James had come into these woods and had foolishly been talked into bringing all four of his surviving children with him. The fact that only one child had sustained an injury were fantastic odds…but not perfect. And it wasn't over yet.

"Wo Fat." Frankie clarified, wincing as Kono moved his arm in order to wrap his shoulder. "Do you think he said that about Steve's dad still being alive just to mess with him and to…"

"Really?" Harper interrupted angrily, eyes blazing at her older brother, "After everything that just happened out here you still don't believe that Jack is alive? You've got to be kidding…"

"Hey…you wanna jump back into your skin there, hothead?" Frankie snapped, interrupting her tirade, "That's not what I was saying at all. If you'd just back off a second and let me finish…" His tired eyes moved from his sister's face to where Steve was standing over Wo Fat's dead body a few hundred yards away and lowered his voice as he continued, "What I was trying to say is that maybe the reason Wo Fat was in these woods today is because he came back to finish the elder McGarrett off." Glancing back up to Harper, he added, "When you escaped, he probably figured that you were dead. He didn't plan on your miraculous and completely stubborn fight to survive in that river. So when he found out that you did in fact survive and regained consciousness, he had to come back out here and finish what he started by killing Jack McGarrett."

"He had a year to kill Jack McGarrett," Harper disagreed, letting her eyes wander over to where her ex-husband stood motionless as she continued, "No, this is the ultimate mind game."

"He knew he was going to die," Tommy James responded, narrowing his eyes in thought, "he had nine guns trained on him…there was no way he was getting out of that alive. So he saved his best and most evil trick for last."

"Wo Fat thinks he won," Chin stated, nodding his head in agreement, "That he left Steve wondering for the rest of his life if he could have done something differently and saved his father."

"Again," Danny added flatly.

"Well, he didn't win because this isn't over," the redheaded detective told them all stubbornly, "There is a hidden basement out here somewhere and we are going to find it. And in that basement we will find Jack McGarrett…one way or another."

And without another word on the matter, she left the group and marched over to stand shoulder to shoulder with Steve. Glancing down at Wo Fat's body, she said quietly, "He looks almost peaceful…like the mask of death is covering up all the madness within."

Without looking up from the body of his greatest enemy, Steve answered just as quietly, "I'm sorry I didn't believe you."

Harper simply shrugged and looked up through the trees as she asked, "Are you giving up?"

"Nope," he responded and finally glanced up at her, "You?"

"Not a chance," she countered and pulled out her Glock to make sure it was reloaded, "but we'd better get moving. We're losing daylight."

After deciding that Mickey, Jenna, and Kono would stay with Frankie and Wo Fat's body to wait for the ambulance and Medical Examiner, the remaining members of the team trudged deeper into the foreboding woods behind Harper and Steve.

"I hate the woods," Danny remarked as they passed under a thick umbrella of twisted vines, breaking the silence that had enveloped them, "I'm from Jersey, you're from Chicago…what the hell are we doing in the woods? Reminds me of Hansel and Gretel. Melodramatic bullshit, man. Hated that story when I was a little kid."

"You were never a little kid," Chin joked, trying to ease the tension, "But you're right…this place gives me the creeps."

The team used natural landmarks from Kono's map to locate where the original cellar might have been. Wo Fat had to come from somewhere. The air was thick and still as the search and rescue party carried onward into uncertainty. But everyone could sense the impatience that was growing in Steve and in Harper, as well. Especially when she began stamping the ground with her feet, trying to locate the hidden door she had escaped through. The detective was listening for a hollow sound, some kind of wood or metal under the tall grass and thick, tangly weeds.

The Commander couldn't explain what feelings came over him in that moment as he watched his ex-wife stomp around like a small child throwing a fit on the playground. Steve wondered if she realized that she was searching in desperation for the very place where she herself had been kept underground.

And she was doing it for him.

Wo Fat was dead and everyone knew that the answers to Samuel Norval's death had probably died with him. Harper had known the consequences the moment she fired her gun. But she did it anyway…to protect him and his team and her father and her brothers. And now she was still searching, still reliving her own nightmarish ordeal because she knew that Jack McGarrett was somewhere close by, underneath the ground. Just like she had been.

Steve swallowed hard and willed himself to deal with all of those unsettling feelings later…when this was all over. The same way he had been willing himself to deal with all of the unresolved feelings he had been experiencing since she had come crashing back into his life…

He was jarred away from his thoughts when all of a sudden Harper pulled out her pistol and began searching for something else…something to shoot at. The men all watched her but didn't say anything. They knew that being back in those woods had to be hard for her and she needed a little release. Shooting at Wo Fat had not helped because he died with so many secrets left unrevealed. So now she had to release some venom, some stress. But there was nothing to shoot at…no underground cellar, no trap door. Nothing.

So she fired two shots into the knot of a nearby tree. Again and again, all direct hits.

"Feel better now?" Steve asked with a smirk, as apparently he was the only one brave enough to say anything to her at that moment.

"A little…" she replied with the same smirk before everyone stopped dead in their tracks when they heard something else break in on the silence.

A scream.

Someone was screaming.

Six pairs of eyes darted around and searched their surroundings, but no one dared to move or even breathe. It was coming from underneath the ground.

The scream was muffled, but they could hear it clearly all the same. It was just to the north of where they were standing and even further into the thick bramble. Harper raised her gun and squeezed out two more quick shots as another signal and then screamed out into the woods, "Jack!"

The muffled scream was louder the next time, as if rising up from the tenth circle of Hell. As the team moved closer to the source, the next sound was definitely recognizable…

"Jimmy!"

Upon hearing him calling out for his daughter-in-law, everyone simultaneously dropped to their hands and knees and began searching frantically for a hidden door, running their fingers and palms over the undergrowth until they were cut and bleeding. Harper stole a look over at Steve and saw that his hands were shaking.

Propping herself up on her knees, Harper fired off two more shots to let Jack know that they had heard him and were still there as Steve lowered his head close to the ground and called out, "Dad! We're up here! Hold on! We're coming to get you!"

"Over here!" Bobby James suddenly yelped, "There's some kind of a door over here!"

Everyone practically fell over themselves and each other as they ran through the weeds to where a trapdoor was hidden in honeysuckle and waist-high grass. The door had been covered over with an extra layer of sod and wouldn't likely have been found by a search party or anyone else hiking through the park.

Everyone else stood back and let Steve yank it open, with Harper close on his heels. The pair hurried down a deep, wooden staircase that looked like it had been there for a hundred years.

"This is it," Harper breathed into Steve's ear as he wrapped his strong arms around her waist and helped her down the last few remaining steps, "I was here. I ran up this stair case to get out."

Squeezing her hand but not letting go, the couple rounded a corner and almost ran into a second doorway. The heavy, oak door looked almost new, as if it had only been installed in the last year or two. Steve reached out and turned the handle, but it was locked.

"This is Commander Steve McGarrett of Hawaii Five-0 and I'm coming in," Steve shouted to anyone who may have been behind the door. Dropping Harper's hand, he pulled out his weapon and fired two shots into the lock until it disintegrated. Shoving his shoulder into the center of the wooden door, it heaved open slowly.

"We're right behind you, boss," Chin whispered in his deep, homicide-scene voice, "Watch yourself."

Steve led the way down a long hallway and wondered how long it had taken to get it set up that way. The space was extensive, with doors on either side of the corridor. And each door was bolt-locked from the outside, like prison cells.

How the hell had Harper ever made it out of this place?

"Dad!" Steve called into the darkness, pausing at each door as they snaked down the hallway, "Dad, it's Steve. And Harper and Chin. Where are you?"

"Steven!"

Steve and Harper clung to the walls as they inched down closer to the sound of Jack McGarrett's voice. Suddenly behind them, they heard a scuffle and a thud before Tommy James voice was heard saying, "Don't move, you son of a bitch."

Apparently Harper's brother had found Michael Sugimoto's hiding place.

Steve and Harper continued to inch down the corridor toward a faint glimmer of amber light. They turned left and stumbled down a short flight of stairs into another corridor where there were more locked doors. Jack must have been screaming with all of his might in order for them to be able to hear him from above ground.

Steve opened the first door on the right…and there he was.

Jack McGarrett.

He stared in disbelief. It couldn't be. The former Navy S.E.A.L. moved closer to the man chained up to the wall and looked into his eyes. The individual sitting before him was unshaven and reeked of filth; he had lost weight and the dark circles and the lines of fatigue etched in Jack's face spoke volumes about the misery that Wo Fat had put him through over the course of the last year. However, the eyes were the same; although they were no longer full of life, the eyes were those of his father.

Steve froze, his white-knuckled hands gripping the gun so tightly, his body straining with the effort of keeping his arms from trembling at the shock.

He's always been good at staying in control.

Instinctively, Steve retreated a step, regretting it immediately. Years of backing away and distancing himself from his father after his mother's death and the habit had yet to wear off. He purposefully stilled himself, and was suddenly embarrassed that tears _(of relief? of fear?)_ suddenly sprang into his eyes. Blinking back the tears, he looked down hesitantly, unsure of what came next. Most of the time, either one of the McGarrett men would have spun away angrily and stalked off, leaving the other seething in rage. But this was different. This was…

Steve practically stumbled forward from a sudden force from behind pushing him onward. He turned and stared in surprise at Harper, who had unceremoniously pushed him into the room. Her bright eyes were full of tears as she looked down at Jack and then glanced back up at Steve, silently urging him ahead.

Crouching down in front of his father, Steve reached out a trembling hand and pushed the hair out of the older man's eyes. His voice held a slight tremor when he finally spoke.

"Dad…"

Slowly lifting his head, Jack McGarrett blinked his eyes several times, trying to bring into focus the image of the person in front of him. He finally managed to meet the gaze of the man crouching in front of him. It unnerved him that his son seemed to able to look right through him.

"Dad, it's me. It's..."

"Steven," Jack croaked out, finishing the thought. A slow smile spread across his haggard features as he said, "I knew she would bring you here to me. That wife of yours is something else…"

Jack suddenly found the strength that had alluded him for more than a year and pulled his son in with his right hand, embracing him so tightly that for a moment, Steve forgot to breathe. He could hear his father sniffling against his shoulder, and in his mind's eye, he could only see how the stoic expression on his father's face crumpled a split second before they embraced.

And then Steve couldn't take it anymore. All the tension and the nightmares and the pent-up fear of the past few weeks just spilled out, leaving a gaping empty space behind, and he found himself clutching tightly at his father in sheer desperate relief. The Commander buried his face in his father's shoulder like he used to as a boy, muffling the last few hitched breaths in his father's ragged shirt.

He was badly beaten and chained to a wall, but Jack McGarrett was alive.

And that was good enough for now.


	33. Welcome Back, Jack

**Chapter Thirty Two – Welcome Back, Jack**

_"You don't raise heroes, you raise sons. And if you treat them like sons, they'll turn out to be heroes, even if it's just in your own eyes."_

~Walter M. Schirra, Sr

_Honolulu Medical Center, the next morning…_

"Stop fussing over me."

Jack McGarrett half-smiled and half-scowled up at his daughter as she tucked the blankets around him and fluffed up his pillows again for the fifth time since she and Steve had entered his hospital room. "I'm fine."

"So you keep telling me," Mary Ann shot back, finally sitting down in the chair to the left of her father's bedside and exchanging a knowing look with her brother. Steve, seated on the opposite side of the elder McGarrett's bed, merely shook his head and chuckled at the sight of the child fussing over the parent.

"And yet you sound as if you don't believe me."

"Well the huge bandages covering both of your legs, the IV drip, and the monitors attached to your heart are quite convincing," Steve pointed out, glancing around at the medical equipment that filled the room and reminded everyone that the situation was still quite serious.

"Ah, doctors," Jack muttered, lying back against his pillows and closing his eyes, "They get their kicks out of padding the bill."

Steve smirked at his father and moved over to inspect the heart monitor that the former Honolulu detective was hooked up to as he quipped, "So, if I press this little button right here…"

Without flinching or opening his eyes, Jack replied dryly, "Don't you have a team to debrief? Or some paperwork to catch up on?"

"Nope," Steve answered with a smirk, "Five-0 has earned some quality time off…courtesy of your old friend, the governor."

"Remind me to thank her for that…"

"Actually," Steve interrupted, "Michael Sugimoto is singing like a songbird and the boys from Chicago are helping Danny, Chin, and Kono string him up." Grinning up at his sister, who had arrived from the mainland only hours ago, he continued, "I didn't think that Mickey James could dislike someone as much as he dislikes me, but Kai Akino's henchman has proved me wrong in glorious fashion. The Superintendent simply had to put on his dress blues, comb his moustache, and glare at that chicken shit gangbanger before he was confessing to everything."

"Everything?" Jack asked, lifting his head as his interest peaked, "So did they find out why Wo Fat kept Harper and I hostage?"

Mary Ann pursed her lips and suddenly took an interest in the tiled floor beneath her high heeled feet, leaving Steve to explain grimly, "He wasn't going to keep you alive for long. The plan was to send me on a wild goose chase all over the globe with the clues being…" He paused for a moment to swallow the disgust that had risen up in his throat before finishing, "…parts of your bodies left at every checkpoint. He just needed to get Harper to Hawaii, so that's why he held you captive for over a year."

"And that's why he killed her partner?" Jack deduced with a frown, "As part of an elaborate plan to lure her into his trap?"

"Detective Samuel Norval was simply a pawn in Wo Fat's deadly game," Mary Ann informed him quietly. "Just like mom."

"And how is Jimmy taking that?"

"Not well," Steve told them sharply, crossing his arms over his chest and narrowing his eyes. "Keeping her out of the interview room has not been easy."

"But luckily it is her brothers' problem right now," Mary Ann chuckled, "and it is quite a hilarious family dynamic. They're even more protective than Steve and that girl carries a gun! She could probably kick all of their asses, but they continue to treat her like she's 6 years old. It's amazing and oddly familiar…"

"How is her brother that got shot?"

"Being released right now," Mary Ann stated, standing up and moving toward the door, "And I get the honor of bringing him back to Headquarters."

"Let's hope the pain killers have improved his attitude a little bit…" The Commander quipped, as Mary Ann dropped a kiss on her father's lips.

"I'll be back soon, daddy," she whispered, "It's good to have you back. And, I have to say, you look freakin' fantastic for a man who has been dead for over a year."

Steve shook his head at his sister as he left the hospital room and then quickly settled his long, muscular frame into the chair that Mary Ann had just exited. Jack looked over at him and regarded his son with thoughtful eyes before saying, "She's a remarkable woman."

"Mary?" Steve agreed, taking a moment to relax, "She grew up all right…"

"Yes, she did," Jack warned, shaking his head but silently grateful for this light moment with his son, "but I was actually talking about the other woman in the equation. You know, that redheaded vixen that managed to escape from a madman and then saved my life."

"I helped…"

"Steven, don't change the subject," Jack scolded, only partially in a mocking tone, "We were talking about how remarkable Harper Elizabeth James is."

"Yes, we were," Steve agreed, his features softening at the mention of his ex-wife, "I've never met anyone like her."

"I have," Jack said, softly. "And I married her, too." Taking a deep breath, Jack continued. "I loved your mother..."

"Dad..." Steve stopped him, not wanting to go twenty rounds with him so soon after getting him back to the land of the living.

But Jack had to say it. And Steve had to hear him.

"I loved your mother more than anything in this world," he repeated, daring his son to look away from him or interrupt him again. "From the moment I met her, I knew that I had met my match. I had never been so sure about something in my entire life. She was funny and smart and beautiful...and she didn't put up with any of my crap." Jack chuckled at his memory and then said, "She challenged me, like no one had ever challenged me before. Sound familiar?"

"Don't start." Steve warned, knowing where the conversation was headed, "Harper and I are divorced. She lives in Chicago and I live in Hawaii. And once this thing with Sugimoto is wrapped up, her father and her brothers are taking her back to the Windy City. So don't start looking for any _'happily ever afters'_ where there aren't any."

The elder McGarrett nodded his head in agreement and said, "Good."

Caught off guard by his father's reply, Steve looked at him in surprise. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means," Jack explained, sitting up and readjusting the pillows that his daughter had already straightened for him, "that getting the two of you out of each other's orbit as soon as humanly possible is a good plan." Looking back up at his son, he said, "You're not ready for that kind of commitment. You weren't the first time around and nothing has really changed. And you're sure as hell not ready for a woman like Harper. You never were."

Steve sat up straighter in his chair, his tone even more indignant than before as he sputtered out, "I'm not ready for a wom...what?"

Jack chuckled and said, "It's okay, Steven. It's not your fault. It's mine." In a more serious tone, he continued, "When your mother died, I lost myself in revenge. And you lost yourself...in work. That's how you deal and it works for you." The former detective looked down at his blankets to avoid seeing the look of shock and surprise that had registered on his son's face. "So, I was shocked when you called and told me that you were getting married. But it didn't last because it wasn't based on love. It was based on lust. And a marriage like that..."

"You don't know anything about my marriage!" Steve interrupted him, the anger rushing to the surface and shooting out of his mouth. "You don't know anything about anything. Jimmy..."

"Harper has been hurt too much in the past to ever let herself fall for someone like you again." Jack said smugly, biting his lip to keep from grinning at how worked up his son was getting at his words. The kid was so transparent. "She lost her mother and her brother and her partner and you walked out on her when she needed you most..."

"You have no one idea what you are talking about," Steve hissed.

"Don't I?" His father challenged him. "You did send her divorce papers from half way across the country…"

"Okay," Steve interrupted, trying very hard not to shout at his newly back from the dead father, "Okay, so maybe I was a lousy husband. But she was a lousy wife…"

"Really?"

"Yes!" Steve finally shouted and then suddenly added, "No!" Getting up from the chair and starting to pace around the room, he began to talk out loud to himself, "I was, on my worst days, a lousy husband. Hell, on my best day I screwed up only a handful of times without trying. And I was always sure I was doing something that she wanted to kick my ass for. But she never did. Instead she gave me that smirk of hers and raised her eyebrow and just laughed at me…at all the things about me that should have driven her crazy. She just laughed."

Stopping to look out the window of his father's hospital room, Steve's voice changed as he added, "But then one day, she stopped laughing. At me, at the world, at anything. And I didn't know how to make her laugh again." Turning back to look at his father, he said softly, "I let her down. And I didn't know how to fix it. So when the opportunity presented itself, I took the coward's way out and I left."

"Are you still in love with her?"

"It's not that simple…"

"Yes, it is." Jack interrupted quietly, "Trust someone who has been there…when it's gone, you realize that love was the only thing that ever mattered. And all of the rest was just crap." Looking up at his son and thinking of his wife, he added, "Don't be one of those people who can't figure out what he has until it's gone."

"She lives in Chicago, dad," Steve said, looking up as the head nurse came into the room with supplies to change Jack's bandages, "and she's not stupid enough to leave twice. Not even for me." Nodding to the nurse, he added quickly, "I'm going to go see how things are playing out down at headquarters. I'll be back later."

As Steve got out of his father's hospital room as fast as he could, Jack shook his head and enjoyed a little chuckle. That couldn't have gone better if he had planned it.

As the nurse came over to the bed to check on Jack's bandages, she looked at Jack and said with a grin, "Kids, huh? What are you going to do?"

Jack shook his head in agreement and said, "Damned if I know. I may have just saved the best thing that has ever happened to him. Or ruined it. At this point, it's anybody's guess."


	34. Stay

**So I thought this would be a really great start to everyone's week! It may seem like the end to the fic, but I do have one more trick up my sleeve. So sit back and enjoy the beauty of our new favorite couple...**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Thirty Three - Stay<strong>

_I realized I made a mistake, I thought I needed some space. But I just let love go to waste. It's so crystal clear now that I need your here now. I gotta get you back today._

_This time I want it all, showing you all the cards, giving you all my heart. This time I'll take the chance, this time I'll be your man. I can be all you need. This time it's all of me."_

_~John Legend_

_A few hours later, on a private beach in Hawaii…_

It wasn't the soft white sand, the crystal clear water of the lagoon, the spectacular sunsets, or the languid tropical breezes that put Hawaii on Harper's list of her top ten favorite places...it was the way that she felt when she was there.

Peaceful.

Content.

Happy.

When Steve had first told her that he was born and raised in Hawaii, Harper had found herself daydreaming about returning with him one day to the place that had once been described as "a tiny emerald in a setting of turquoise, encircled by a sheltering necklace of sparkling pearls". In her happiest moments she had even entertained visions of waking up next to her husband and sharing a cup of Kona coffee on a balcony overlooking the Pacific, afternoons spent walking along white sandy beaches with Steve and their children and some golden, fluffy puppy playing in the surf. And of course no fantasy life would be complete without evenings spent lingering over romantic island dinners and sexy beachside dances while wearing exotic flowers in her hair.

Little did she know then that her real life Hawaiian experience would consist of an investigation into the death of her partner and close friend, an unexpected run in with her ex-husband seven years after their divorce, finding out that she had been betrayed by her father, being dragged from her hotel room by thugs and locked in a basement by a madman, a daring escape followed by a near death stint in the hospital, and a trip into the jungle to save a man who had been believed dead for nearly a year.

Just another chapter in the life of Harper James.

As the redhead leaned back on the lounge chair outside the private bungalow the governor had provided for the James family's use and let the sun's rays warm her skin, she marveled once again at what had become of her life in the last few weeks. After her father had basically banished her from the Michael Sugimoto interview and told her to relax, her brothers had been dispatched to bring her back to the bungalow. So there she was. Sipping a frozen margarita and sunning herself on one of the world's most romantic beaches.

Alone.

Which had, in turn, given her a chance to watch all the happy, honeymooning couples walk by hand in hand as they stole kisses in the surf. Some slightly more brazen couples had stolen more than kisses.

And Harper's mind had drifted toward thoughts of Steve.

She missed him. She missed them…or what they had once been anyway. There was no getting around it. She had tried not to let it happen. But it had, nonetheless. Harper found her mind wandering aimlessly back to before they had screwed things up and gotten divorced.

It had started simply enough. A joke. A laugh. A touch. Innocent, yet so full of indefinable meaning. He'd bought her a drink one night after their shift, and she'd looked into her glass like it could tell the future, and told him how she felt lonely. How difficult it was to be a woman in a world dominated by men…both at home and on the job. But Steve couldn't comprehend that simple idea, so he had placed his arm around her, musing how he was offering her company.

She'd laughed at that because she'd had one glass too many, and because she wanted him to look at her like he did sometimes when he thought she wasn't aware of his presence. But she was always aware of his presence. How could she not be?

More intimate dinners in the confines of her cozy apartment followed and sexy kisses usually followed the dinners. And some of the best nights of her life soon followed the kisses and then somehow she ended up on a beach in Mexico wearing a wedding dress.

Harper took another sip of her tangy, sweet concoction with the adorable turquoise umbrella stuck in it before leaning back and closing her eyes to the sun and her own jumbled thoughts. She needed to sweep all thoughts of her ex-husband and her renewed feelings for him out of her head and just focus on pampering herself before she had to leave this tropical paradise.

"Bonjour mademoiselle," came a deep voice above her, coaxing her out of her thoughts. "Appréciez-vous vos vacances?

"Beaucoup, monsieur," Harper smiled warmly without opening her eyes, assuming that it was one of the many stewards the governor had ordered to wait on her hand and foot, "Ceci est une telle belle île. Je pourrais rester ici à jamais."

"Well, actually that was the extent of my french."

Instantly recognizing the soft, sexy voice, Harper's eyes flew open and she sat up with a jerk. She wasn't dreaming. She was eye to eye with her ex-husband, who was both very amused and very pleased with himself.

"What are you doing here?" Harper demanded, her eyes wide with surprise. She was rooted in place on her chair and it was all she could think to say.

"Well hello to you too, sunshine." Steve teased, his eyes twinkling.

"How's your dad? Why aren't you at the hospital?" she asked, her eyes flashing as she regained control of her senses and stood up to face him. It wasn't anger and it wasn't shock in her eyes. She wasn't sure what it was that was emanating from her at that moment.

"He's fine, for a guy who has been dead for a year." He reached down, picked up her margarita and took a sip before saying, "And I had to get out of there…I've spent enough time in hospitals lately."

"I guess you have," Harper agreed, trying to keep from laughing at him as he sipped on the tropical drink. "I was going to stop by, but apparently I have lost complete control of my own life. My brothers decided I was to remain here and…" she shrugged and gestured at their gorgeous surroundings as she finished, "…I didn't put up much of a fight."

"Can't say that I blame you."

"The governor has been very generous with her private beach house and I could definitely get used to this," Harper told him, taking a moment to drink in the sight of him. He looked absolutely delicious in his favorite pair of jeans and a white linen shirt with the first couple of buttons undone and the sleeves rolled up. The island breezes were playing with his dark hair and his bare feet were shifting uncomfortably in the white sand. Shaking those thoughts out of her head, she continued, "And you never answered my first question. What are you doing here?"

"I missed my wife."

His simple statement stunned the detective into silence. She glanced up at him and searched his eyes, the windows to Steve McGarrett's soul. The last thing she expected to find there was truth. In a voice barely above a whisper, Harper joked, "We went seven years without seeing each other and suddenly after about six hours you miss me?"

"Yes," he told her simply.

An awkward silence fell over them as they stood underneath the palm trees and wondered what to do next. Harper looked out over the clear, Pacific ocean and tried to get her bearings while Steve looked over her. Finally turning back to face him, Harper could feel the blush rise up in her cheeks as Steve let his gaze travel appreciatively up and down her bikini clad body. It had been a long time since he had looked at her like that and she didn't realize how much she had missed it.

Self consciously grabbing for the multi-colored sarong that was lying across the back of the nearby chair and quickly fastening it around her waist, Harper tried to ignore his gaze and instead looked past him to the picnic basket that he must have set down before he approached her.

"What's that?" she inquired, trying to change the subject.

Glancing back at the picnic basket, he answered, "A peace offering." He walked over, picked it up, and set it on the lounge chair she had recently vacated. "I told my sob story to the very understanding chef in the main house and she told me that a romantic picnic on the beach would help me work my way back into Miss Harper's good graces. Complete with champagne, glasses, palm fronds, and a blanket. And if all that didn't work, I was just going to get you drunk."

"My affections are not bought that easily."

"Even with roasted shrimp marinated in lime and coconut juice, smoked breadfruit, poe, and Dom Pérignon?" Steve challenged, peeking into the decorative basket that the chef had packed for them.

"You have poe?" Harper asked, moving closer to him and the basket, "I love poe."

Fitting her hand securely into his, the pair set off down the beach and walked until eventually it was just them, the surrounding rocks, the white sand, and endless sky and ocean. Harper's hair flew wildly behind her and she made no attempt to restrain it.

She was the most beautiful thing Steve had ever seen.

They walked in silence for what seemed like an eternity, neither of them wanting to interrupt the soothing sounds of crashing waves with needless words. The tide was out, leaving hard-packed sand exposed for them to tread. Finally, Harper playfully bumped her shoulder against his in a signal that it was time to find a place to unpack their basket. She grinned up at him, her bottom lip crooked and he wanted to bite it, just gently, to press his teeth against that most visible of her quirks.

Steve laid out the blanket that had so thoughtfully been packed for them, while Harper unpacked their picnic lunch. Aside from the shrimp, poe and breadfruit that he had mentioned earlier, there was also cold chicken with some honey soy marinade and an ambrosia salad with mandarin, coconut and marshmallow, sticky and not too sweet.

"This looks scrumptious." Harper said, her mouth already watering. "I didn't even realize that I was hungry until you showed up."

Steve nodded his head in agreement and popped the cork on the bottle of Dom Pérignon as she fixed him a plate. They ate in comfortable silence for awhile and quietly sipped their champagne. They'd run out of words. Or rather, words had ceased to be necessary to fill the gap. Sometimes he looked at her, or the sea, or the sun. Sometimes she looked at him, or the sand, or her hands.

"You always look intrigued with the world," he finally said, smoothing a hand over her forehead.

"I am," she responded with a smile.

Leaning up on his arm, he pushed back the sunglasses that were resting on top of her head to keep her hair out of her face and they fell off her head into the sand as he whispered, "I like your hair loose."

"So do I," Harper replied as she shook it loose and he knew he could resist her no longer.

"I really have missed you," Steve whispered, moving closer to her. He buried his hands in her loose, gorgeous, wind-whipped hair, as he buried his tongue in her mouth. Her hands found their way around his shoulders and were chilled against his neck, tucked into the small of his back. Her lips tasted of salt. He licked them clean, replacing the sea-salt with the sweetness of the champagne that was still on his lips. She whimpered, arched against him and tilted her head to slant her tongue along his. And Harper kissed her husband like there was nothing else in the world.

Finally pulling away, she grinned at him and whispered, "You really have to stop doing that, you know?"

"Doing what?" he teased, working his way down the sensitive skin of her neck.

"Whispering sweet nothings and then kissing me," Harper replied, although the sensations that were running through her made it almost impossible for her to complete her thoughts.

"Why would I possibly want to do that?"

"Because if I join Five-0," she whispered into his ear, "it would be considered harassment."

The last thing in the universe that Steve wanted to do at that moment was to stop tasting her skin. But when those words came out of her mouth, it was like someone had thrown a bucket of cold ocean water over the two of them. Pulling back with wide eyes, he looked at her and sputtered, "If you…what? Join Five-0? Who asked you to join Five-0?"

"The Governor," she replied simply, completely enjoying his reaction to her news.

"When did she do that?"

"When she came by to see me in the hospital the other day," Harper said with a shrug, suddenly missing the warmth of his breath on her skin, "And again when she gave us permission to use her private bungalow."

But Steve's tone wasn't as playful as Harper's and he was suddenly in cop mode…as if this romantic rendezvous had suddenly turned into an interrogation. Frowning, he demanded, "And she didn't run it by me?"

"You were a little busy," he ex-wife chided playfully, knowing she still held the upper hand, "Besides, I assume she didn't think you would object. Do you?"

"Object?" he repeated, almost as if he hadn't expected her question. But then he shook his head and told her vehemently, "No way. We make a good team."

"We always have."

But there was something she still wasn't saying and he was intent on making her say it. Unfortunately his voice cracked a little and betrayed his cool exterior as he asked, "Are…are you considering it?"

She paused and looked out at the ocean before shocking the Hell out of him as she said, "A little."

Steve recovered quickly from her surprise pronouncement and grinned as he said, "You're making pro and con lists in your head, aren't you?"

Smirking at how well he knew her, she answered coyly, "Maybe."

"And which list am I on?"

Harper pretended to pause and consider his question before saying, "I'm still deciding."

"Why do you hurt me?" he joked and his heart sang when she laughed whole heartedly at him. A real Jimmy laugh. God, he had missed that sound. Encouraged by her response, he leaned in and whispered seductively, "Maybe I can persuade you…"

Her breathing became shallow as he leaned in close and ran his long fingers through her hair. Harper's eyes closed as she leaned into his touch and Steve pressed a kiss behind her ear and another just below it. His teeth gently scraped her earlobe and he grinned into her skin when he heard her hiss.

"See, this is why you would be on the con list," Harper told him breathlessly, "I can't concentrate while you're around…when you do that."

"This?"

She allowed his lips to do a few more delicious things to hers before she tore herself away and said in her most serious tone, "C'mon, this is serious. This is my future. Our future."

Letting out a huge sigh of annoyance, Steve reluctantly put a little distance between them on the blanket as he said in his most professional tone, "So, let's talk it out. Besides me, what are the other cons?"

"I'd be living in Hawaii…"

"Most people don't consider that a con," he interrupted quickly, already formulating a plan in his mind to shoot down any negative aspects she might find about them living on the same island. This was going to be the most important conversation of Steve's life and he had to be on top of his game.

"It is when my entire life is back in Chicago…my family, my friends, my job," Harper reminded him seriously, "I left Chicago once already and I was lucky that the Police Department took me back. I don't think they'll do it twice in one lifetime."

"That's assuming this doesn't work out…"

"It's not just the job," Harper replied quickly and then launched into the meat of her argument, "It's…everything. I grew up in Chicago…lived there most of my life. Everything I know is there, everything I love. I mean, there is nothing like the holidays in Chicago. I love seeing the Great Tree at Macy's at Christmas time, walking down State Street to view the animated window displays, sipping Glogg at Christkindlmarket in Daley Center Plaza, taking the dogs for a run on the beach at Belmont Harbor, going pumpkin picking in the fall." When Steve bit back a smile, she punched him in the shoulder and cried, "I'm serious! My brothers, my nieces and nephews…I'm going to miss doing all that stuff with them, watching them grow up."

Still laughing at her logic and recovering from the blow to the arm, he reasoned, "They can come visit. Learn how to surf. They'll love it."

"Vinnie and my mom are buried in Chicago. And now Sammy, too."

He had no answer for that one, so they sat together in silence for awhile as they gazed at the sun setting over the ocean. Finally, Steve looked over at her and asked, "So what about the pro's?"

"It's Hawaii," she reminded him, "You spent a winter in Chicago…February's here are much easier to deal with."

"That's it?"

"No."

"Come on…"

"It's…" she began to say and then shook her head, "You won't understand."

"Try me."

Harper took a deep breath and then began, "The best thing about Hawaii is that no one here has ever heard of Mickey James. Or his sons, for that matter…"

"Jimmy…"

She shook her head at his interruption and said, "You asked for it and now you're getting it. I haven't gotten over my daddy issues, either."

Steve moved closer to her and put her arm around her shoulder supportively as she continued, "I can't think of a day in my life when I didn't want to be a cop. And no one ever told me that I couldn't…until I got to the police academy. They heard my name, took one look at me, and decided that Mickey James' little girl was never going to be one of them." Taking another deep breath, Harper looked out over the ocean waves and said, "I knew it would be hard…it was part of the allure at first. But Chicago PD was where I wanted to be, so I kept my head down, worked hard and put up with all of the bullshit…the doubt, the negativity, the blatant sexism, the innuendo, everything. I did everything the way I was supposed to because I knew it was the only way to get where I wanted to go. And then I did…Homicide."

Pulling away from his embrace, she turned to look at him and vehemently told him, "I **earned** my place on that squad… I can outthink, outrun, outshoot, and outdo any cop in Chicago. But only about a handful of people in the world believe that…and I'm related to most of them. The guys I work with are still second guessing me and making me justify my work, even when they know I've got it right. I guess I just thought I wouldn't have to prove myself anymore…not at this point in my career."

Harper blinked back the tears that were forming behind her eyes and then smiled one of her dazzling smiles as she said, "And then I came to Hawaii and ran into you. And Danny, Chin, Kono…they didn't care what my last name was. They agreed or disagreed with my decisions based on what was best for the case. I didn't have to prove anything to them. I just had to do what I do best…be a cop. And, before I knew it, I was part of the team." Shaking her head at her own words, she finished, "I've had a pretty amazing career so far, but I have never been a part of a team. Ever. And it felt really good. So now that I have, it's going to be pretty hard to go back to what I'm used to."

Steve was quiet for a moment before he said simply, "That's a pretty big pro."

"Yes, it is," she agreed.

And then he added, "You know, we get pretty good vacation time around here."

"What?"

"Vacation days," he repeated, "You can take a week in the fall and go back to Chicago…pick pumpkins, see the leaves, wear sweaters, drink apple cider…"

Harper laughed at his words and then rested her head on his shoulder as he continued.

"And then another week at Christmas…see the tree at Macy's, go ice skating, have a late night hot dog at Weiner's circle, act like a tourist in your own hometown, see your family." He tilted his own head until it was resting on hers as he added, "I'd come with you if they didn't hate my guts."

"That's only two weeks out of fifty two…"

"We can renegotiate," he offered, "I have an in with the boss. Plus, your nieces and nephews can come down here when they're on break from school…spring break, summer vacation. We can spoil them rotten and then send them back to Chicago."

"We?"

"Yes," he replied, swallowing the lump in his throat, "we."

"We haven't been _'we'_ in a long time," she reminded him, "And last time, we screwed it up pretty good."

"Yes, we did." Steve agreed, "But this time, it's different. We're different. This time, I believe in you in a way I didn't before. In fact, while you were in the hospital, I realized that you are all I believe in." Taking her hands in his and turning to look her in the eye, he said, "I believe in the scent of your hair, the taste of your skin, the twinkle in your eye. And I believe that we can get it right this time. You and me. Together."

He let go of her hands for just a moment to rummage through the picnic basket once more. And when he turned around, Harper's green eyes got wide as she breathed, "What is that?"

Grinning, Steve held out his treasure and replied, "The wedding ring you threw at my head that day on the pier."

"You kept it?"

"It was my mother's," he reminded her, "And I really think that she would have wanted you to have it. Again." Taking her hands in his again, he looked into those eyes of hers and whispered, "Stay."


	35. Epilogue

_**Okay friends, we have come to the end of this journey. I'm sorry it took so long to get this uploaded but I wrote and rewrote it a bunch of times. I'm still not sure this is the PERFECT ending to this fic, but it is the one I am most satisfied with. The runner up was a scene in Five-0 Headquarters with the Fab 4 + Harper and Jack thrown into the mix. But then I thought that this scene showcased a side of Steve and his Jimmy that was so different and so very endearing. It makes sense to me that the kick ass S.E.A.L. can also be a kick ass father and husband...with kids who challenge him as much as his beloved Jimmy does! **_**_In case you can't remember or don't want to read back, the McGarrett children in this chapter are all named after lost loved ones...Vincent (Harper's brother), Anna (Steve's mom - I named her bc I couldn't find a name in my research), Sam (Harper's partner), and Sophia (Harper's mom)._**

_**Thanks so much for coming along with me on this little literary adventure of mine! You have been fabulous cheerleaders and supporters every step of the way and that has been very important to me during times of writer's block or lack of ambition! Thanks again!**_

* * *

><p><strong>Epilogue - A Life More Ordinary<strong>

_The family. We are a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together. _

_~Erma Bombeck_

_The McGarrett Home in Hawaii, Ten Years Later…_

"That's not how mommy does it."

Commander Steve McGarrett let out a dramatic sigh as he glanced over at his 5-year-old daughter, Anna, as she sat perched on a stool in the welcoming kitchen of the McGarrett family home and watched him break eggs into a mixing bowl. Eyeing her suspiciously, Steve answered, "How does mommy do it?"

"Well, for starters," Anna's older brother, Vincent, chimed in sarcastically, looking into the mixing bowl and grinning at his father, "she doesn't put the egg shells into the cake mix. She usually leaves them on the _outside_ of the bowl."

Steve smirked at his mini-me and threw a nearby dish towel at him playfully as he asked, "Don't you have homework or something to do?"

"Nope," Vinnie answered, watching his father pick the egg shells out of the mixing bowl with his fingers, "I did it already."

"When?"

"Before," The 8-year-old answered nonchalantly, opening the refrigerator door and scanning the contents for a snack. The Leader of Five-0 was about to question his son further when a small naked boy ran past him and into the family room.

"Sam?" Steve asked, confused and surprised at the same time. Looking over at his oldest son, he asked, "Am I wrong or was he wearing clothes just a few minutes ago?"

But he didn't give Vinnie a chance to answer because he was already following his younger son into the family room. Coming to stand in front of the 3-year-old, Steve looked down at his bare backside and asked cautiously, "Sammy?"

"Hi daddy," Sam answered, never taking his eyes off the television.

"Where are your clothes?"

"Uh-stairs," Sam told him matter of factly.

"Why aren't they on your body?" Steve asked, trying to keep his tone even.

"I no like clofes."

"Why don't you like your clothes?" His father asked him, but Sam was too engrossed in the t.v. to answer. After a minute, he tried again, "Sam?"

"Hi daddy."

Steve pursed his lips and said, "You can't eat dinner without clothes on."

"I not eatin'."

"Why not?"

"I not wanna."

"You not wanna?" Steve repeated, becoming more and more frustrated. "It's not really a choice, Sam. You have to eat dinner. And you have to wear clothes."

Sam stubbornly shook his head and insisted, "No clofes."

"I can chase down drug dealers and get murderers to confess to heinous things, but I can't get my own kid to put on some shorts," Steve muttered as he leaned down and picked up his son, causing the small boy to paste a pout onto his adorable little face. "Don't give me that look, Samuel John McGarrett. Now go upstairs and put on your clothes."

He set the little boy on the stairs and crossed his muscular arms over his chest. The toddler mimicked his father's actions and the two engaged in a standoff for a few moments before the younger McGarrett finally gave up and took his little naked self upstairs to put on his clothes. He returned a few minutes later in a colorful outfit that didn't match, but as long as he was covered Steve wasn't going to push it.

"I watch TV now?"

"Sure," Steve replied nonchalantly as he headed back into the kitchen with Sam hot on his heels. "No one changed the channel while you were gone."

"I not wanna watch that one." Sam whined, following his father back into the kitchen. "Wanna watch in the playroom."

"Fine, Vinnie will go up with you." Steve suggested, watching Anna take over his job of picking broken egg shells out of the cake mix. He dropped a thank you kiss on top of her red head and began to pour the portion of batter that had already been de-shelled into sections of a muffin tin.

"I'm not going up there with him." his oldest son answered, taking a big bite of the apple he had chosen for a snack. "I don't watch TV afterschool."

"Since when?" Steve asked, continuing to focus on the sections of the muffin tin as he filled them with cake batter.

"I don't know," Vinnie shrugged and watched his father closely before informing him, "Mom usually puts those little paper things in the tin before she puts the batter in."

"And she doesn't fill them that full," Anna added, licking batter off of her fingers. "Mom only fills them up half way."

"Well mom isn't here. So, we're doing it my way," Steve answered testily. He was tired of getting cooking advice from his children.

Two hours ago, Steve and Harper had gotten a message at Five-0 from his sister, the family babysitter, informing them that she had an appointment to get to so one of the other McGarrett's was going to have to come home to take care of the kids. Since Harper was out in the field with Kono and Jack was in the middle of an interrogation, it was up to Steve to pick Vinnie, Anna, and Sam up from school and take them home.

And oh, by the way, could he make some cupcakes for Anna's class party tomorrow?

So Steven John McGarrett…highly trained former Navy S.E.A.L. and current leader of Hawaii Five-0 …was spending the afternoon taking care of his children and making cupcakes. He shook his head at the absurdity of it all. Danny was going to have a field day with this when he got back to work in the morning.

"I not wanna watch TV in the playroom!" Sam suddenly shouted, stomping his foot on the kitchen floor and shaking Steve back into reality.

"Don't start that nonsense, little man," Steve warned his son sternly, scooting him out of the way as he moved over to open the oven door. He placed two tins of cupcakes into the oven, shut the door, and checked the box of cake mix to see how long to set the timer.

"Come uh-stairs wif me!" Sam cried, pulling on Vinnie's arm. But the elder McGarrett boy was having none of it.

"Get off me," the elder of the two brothers scowled, shaking the little one off his arm.

"Come wif me!" Sam demanded, pulling harder on Vinnie. Fed up, the eight year old gave his brother a shove and sent him sprawling backwards onto his rear end on the kitchen floor. Sam looked surprised for a moment before opening his mouth and beginning to wail.

"Boys!" Steve snapped, squatting down next to Sam.

"Vinnie pushed me!" Sam cried, as if his father hadn't witnessed the entire event.

"He was pulling on me!" Vinnie protested, watching his father gather Sam into his arms and sit him on the kitchen counter.

Once Steve was sure that Sammy wasn't hurt, he looked sternly at his younger son and said, "He shouldn't have pushed you, but you were pulling on him."

"And acting like a brat." Anna muttered, stirring the batter that remained in the mixing bowl.

"I not a brat," Sam informed her.

"You," Steve warned Anna, "stay out of it. I can be the dad all by myself. And you," he looked over at Vinnie, who was thinking he was going to escape this situation without getting into trouble, "stop shoving your brother. And you," Steve turned back to look at Sam, "need to settle down."

"I wanna watch TV," Sam told him.

"We've heard. Ten times now," Vinnie answered, rolling his eyes.

Steve threw Vincent another warning look and the eight year old wisely kept any further comments to himself. Turning back to Sam, he said diplomatically, "We've already been over this. You have three choices...you can go watch in the living room or you can watch upstairs in the playroom. Or," Steve's voice turned stern as he gave out the third option, "you can go sit in the corner until you can remember how to behave. Which is it going to be?"

"Will you make Vin come wif me?"

"Your brother doesn't want to go upstairs with you. He wants to stay here and annoy me," Steve answered. "So, if you go upstairs it will be by yourself."

Sam was quiet for a minute and Steve could see that he was weighing his choices in his head. He got that same reflective look on his face that Jimmy got on hers when she was thinking about things. Finally, Sam said, "I go watch in the livin' room."

"Good choice," The Commander agreed, lifting him down off the counter and swatting him on the rump as he left the kitchen. Steve was just about to go back to the cupcakes when the shrill ringing of the telephone ripped through the kitchen.

"I'll get it!" Vinnie and Anna yelled at the same time. But it was Vinnie who reached the phone first and stuck out his tongue at his sister as he held the receiver up to his ear. "Hello?"

Anna returned to her perch on one of the kitchen barstools as Vinnie said, "Hi, Grandpa Jack." He paused and then said, "I'm helping dad make cupcakes." The boy paused again and then grinned as he said, "Not too good. He left the egg shells in the batter."

"Traitor," Steve muttered, just imagining the laugh that his father was having at his expense. Both for making cupcakes and for leaving the eggshells in the batter.

Vinnie continued talking to the patriarch of the McGarrett clan, saying, "Sam is being a brat. He made me..."

"I NOT a brat!" Sammy yelled from the living room as Steve finally decided to take the phone from his sons' clutches.

"Hey dad," he said into the phone, cradling the receiver between his ear and his shoulder as he wiped his hands on the dishtowel he had thrown at Vinnie earlier. "Did you get a confession?"

As he listened to his father detail the latest developments in the case that Five-0 was currently working on, Steve's dark eyes scanned the messy kitchen and the various children milling around, bored to tears. They were on the phone for a good twenty minutes when he noticed that Anna was peering curiously into the oven.

"Dad!" she called from her spot in front of the oven. "I think you might need to..."

"Hold on, Anna," Steve hushed her as he tried to keep up with what Jack was saying.

"But dad…" Anna said again, this time with more urgency. "I think you need to come here."

"Give me one second, Anna Beth..."

But before he could finish his sentence, the smoke detector above the refrigerator began going off. Steve looked over at the smoke wafting out of the oven where the cupcakes were baking. It was what Anna had been trying to tell him.

The sound of the smoke detector set off a chain of misfortunate events. The sound scared Anna and sent the family dog, Captain, into protective mode and he began barking. Anna covered her ears and began to cry so Sam, in turn, turned the volume up on the television so that he could hear over all of the noise.

"Dad!" Steve yelled into the phone. "I'm going to have to call you back!"

The former S.E.A.L. hung up the phone and sprang into action. Grabbing a nearby broom, he hit the reset button on the smoke detector and stopped the awful screeching sound.

"Go open the back door and let some of this smoke out into the yard," he commanded his oldest son and then added, "And then go see if you can settle your sister down."

And then without thinking, Steve yanked open the door to the oven and grabbed the closest muffin tin.

"Damn!" He yelped, burning his fingertips on the hot pan. He grabbed a nearby pot holder and pulled the uncooked cakes out of the oven. They had spilled over the tins and made a huge, burnt mess on the bottom of the oven.

"Daddy said a swear word!" Vinnie informed everyone with a big grin.

"I told you that you filled them too full," Anna remarked, suddenly recovered from her fear of the smoke detector.

Steve bit back his sharp comeback just as Sam came skipping back into the kitchen with his mother following close behind.

"What is going on in here?" Harper demanded, surveying her dirty kitchen as Anna came running over and threw herself into her mother's arms. Swinging her youngest son up onto her hip and planting a big kiss on her daughter's forehead, she turned to her husband and smirked while he scowled as she asked, "Did we have a good afternoon?"

"Remind me to thank my sister for bailing on us on an afternoon when you were out in the field, dad was in interrogation, and I had just pawned my paperwork off on Danny and Chin," Steve muttered, sucking on his burned finger.

"You can't blame this one on your sister, darling," Harper laughed breezily, moving over to drop a kiss on Vinnie's nose and tousling his already messy hair, "This little situation seems to be all you." Putting Sammy down and moving over to her husband, she tenderly took his burnt finger in her hands and asked, "Can I help?"

Steve's dark eyes suddenly sparkled as his wife raised his finger to her lips and kissed it gently.

"Better?" she asked, smiling seductively up at her husband. He was still wearing his work clothes, his hair was messy and tousled from running his hands through it, and Harper thought he looked just as sexy now as he had the day she first laid eyes on him.

"I think I burned my lip, too," he whispered, pulling her into his arms for her welcome home kiss. She ran her hand up his arm, and they both closed their eyes simultaneously as he began trailing sweet kisses down her neck. God, he could never get enough of this woman.

"Aw, my poor baby," she teased, leaning her head back and enjoying the feel of his warm mouth on her sensitive skin. Pulling his mouth back up to hers, their lips met in a sexy kiss.

But just as things were getting interesting, a not so subtle groan was heard from behind them and then a sarcastic voice said, "Um, hello! Kids in the room! Could you stop please?"

Steve and Harper smirked as they pulled apart and looked over at Vinnie, as Steve remarked, "Consider yourself lucky, kid. Some people's parents can't even stand to be in the same room together. One day you'll understand how good you've got it."

Vinnie's smart aleck reply was cut off by the sound of crying coming over the baby monitor on the counter. Smiling sweetly up at her husband, Harper said, "Your daughter is calling for you."

"So, this time she is my daughter?" Steve asked, raising his eyebrow at his wife.

Harper nodded and replied, "Yes. Because at 2 o'clock this morning she was my daughter…when you didn't want to get out of bed for her feeding."

"Okay, but if she's stinky..." Steve's voice trailed off as he headed down the hall and up the stairs to collect the fourth McGarrett child, four month old Sophia Rose.

Harper chuckled and shook her head as she started moving expertly around the kitchen in preparation for the evening meal.

"What we eatin'?" Sammy asked, wandering into the kitchen with his mother.

"Chicken, you dope. Didn't you see it sitting on the counter to defrost all afternoon?" Vinnie asked, pointing to the chicken that was indeed thawing out in front of them.

"I not a dope," Sam retorted, smacking his brother on the leg.

"No, you're not," Harper interjected, giving Vinnie a stern look. "Watch your mouth. And you," she warned, pointing at Sam, "don't hit your brother."

"Sorry." Both boys said at the same time.

"I don't want chicken." Vinnie complained, climbing up onto a stool to watch his mother begin cooking, "I want pizza."

"Well, we're having chicken." Harper answered, placing the chicken in a roasting pan and pulling out a knife to begin chopping vegetables, "Close your eyes and pretend that it's pizza."

"Why can't we have pizza?" Vinnie grumbled, grabbing a carrot that his mother had placed on the counter and chomping down on it.

"Because your mother is making chicken," Steve answered, returning to the kitchen with baby Sophia in his arms, "So, you're eating chicken."

Harper smiled at her partner in crime and in life as she began chopping the vegetables that would accompany the chicken in the roasting pan. Shaking her head as Steve took their brood into the other room so that she could have some peace and quiet, Harper couldn't believe that this was her life. If anyone had ever asked to describe what her life would be like fifteen years ago, she certainly wouldn't have described the scene before her. But her world had been turned upside down one fateful night in Hawaii ten years ago and Harper had never been the same. So here she was…living in paradise with the man of her dreams who turned out to be an amazing father to their four children and working side by side with him, her father-in-law, and her friends at Five-0.

And Harper Elizabeth James McGarrett loved every single moment of it.


End file.
